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The rapid advances in medical technologies has been accompanied by the increased use of Health Technology Assessments (HTA). The questions underlying almost every item of spending are: "Is it worth it?" What do we mean by worth? Are short term costs likely to be long term costs, too, or will they save money over the long term?

Professor Frank Lichtenberg, one of the world's leading experts on HTA, will share groundbreaking new research on these critical issues. Dr Tari Haahtela will then offer a European perspective with a case study from Finland.

Frank R. Lichtenberg (full bio here) is Courtney C. Brown Professor of Business at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He received a BA with Honors in History from the University of Chicago and an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Lichtenberg previously taught at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. He has been a visiting scholar at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, the University of Munich, and elsewhere.

Some of Professor Lichtenberg's research has examined how the introduction of new technology arising from research and development affects the productivity of companies, industries and nations. Recently he has performed studies of the impact of pharmaceutical innovation on longevity, the effect of computers on productivity in business and government organizations, and the consequences of takeovers and leveraged buyouts for efficiency and employment.

His articles have been published in numerous scholarly journals and in the popular press. His book, Corporate Takeovers and Productivity, has been published by MIT Press. He was awarded the 1998 Schumpeter Prize for his paper, Pharmaceutical Innovation as a Process of Creative Destruction, and a 2003 Milken Institute Award for Distinguished Economic Research for the paper, Pharmaceutical Knowledge-Capital Accumulation and Longevity.

Dr Tari Haahtela is a team leader in the EU's Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GALEN) project, a member of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Executive Committee, and European Editor of World Allergy Journal.

Professor of Clinical Allergology at Helsinki University and Head of its hospital's allergy department, Dr Haahtela is certified specialist in Pulmonary Medicine and Clinical Allergology.

He has published articles, reviews and books on Allergology, Pulmonary Medicine, Environmental Medicine and Entomology. His current work is focused on early detection and treatment of asthma and prevention of allergies.