Join the ASCERTAIN Final Conference to explore the outcomes of the ASCERTAIN project and engage with experts from across Europe. Through keynote presentations, panel discussions and interactive sessions, the conference will focus on advancing evidence-based healthcare decision-making and improving equitable access to innovative health technologies.
- Date
- Wednesday 21 Oct 2026, 08:30 - 17:30
- Type
- Conference
- Spoken Language
- English
- Location
The Dominican, Brussels
- Ticket information
A ticket to this conference is free of charge.
Central theme: Rethinking Healthcare Decision-Making in Europe
The Final Conference of ASCERTAIN, a Horizon Europe project led by Prof. Carin Uyl-de Groot from Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM), will bring together policymakers, researchers, patient representatives, industry stakeholders, payers, and healthcare professionals to reflect on the project’s final results and discuss the future of sustainable access to innovative health technologies in Europe. Building on four years of Horizon Europe collaboration, the event will showcase the ASCERTAIN ACCESS2MEDS Framework and Policy Support Tool, designed to support more transparent, evidence-based, and stakeholder-centred healthcare decision-making.
Programme
The programme combines keynote talks, interactive demonstrations, panel discussions, and stakeholder workshops focused on pricing, reimbursement, cost-effectiveness, and affordability of innovative therapies. Particular attention will be given to balancing innovation incentives with equitable patient access, financial sustainability, and evolving European HTA and policy frameworks. The conference aims to foster dialogue across the healthcare ecosystem and explore how ASCERTAIN’s tools and models can support future policy and reimbursement decisions across Europe.
| 20 October 2026 | |
| 19:00 – 21:00 | Pre-conference dinner (optional) |
| 21 October 2026 | |
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Registration & Welcome Coffee |
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Opening Session: Setting the Scene |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee Break & Networking |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | ASCERTAIN Policy Support Tool: Models in Practice |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Interactive ASCERTAIN Experience Hub |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch Break |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | Parallel Stakeholder Workshops |
| 15:30 – 15:45 | Coffee Break |
| 15:45 – 16:30 | Final Stakeholder Reflection Panel |
| 16:30 – 16:45 | Closing Remarks & Future Outlook |
| 16:45 – 17:30 | Reception Drinks & Networking |
Speakers
Prof. Dr. Carin Uyl-de Groot is Professor of Health Technology Assessment at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Director of the institute for Medical Technology Assessment (iMTA) in the Netherlands. She is the project lead of ASCERTAIN and has extensive experience in health technology assessment, health economics, and cancer research. Her work focuses on cost-effectiveness, outcomes research, pricing, reimbursement, and implementation studies, particularly in oncology. She has served in leading roles within international organisations and conferences, including ISPOR and ESMO, and has been a member of the Dutch Health Council since 2015. In addition, she has contributed to the development of clinical practice guidelines and leads several cancer registries and outcomes studies.
More information will be added.
Prof. Dr. Eline Aas is Professor at the Department of Health Management and Health Economics at the University of Oslo and holds a joint position at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Her research focuses on economic evaluations alongside clinical trials, decision-analytic modelling, register data analysis, health behaviour, and health inequalities. She has evaluated clinical trials across areas including colorectal cancer screening, precision cancer medicine, liver transplantation, hip fractures, traumatic brain injury rehabilitation, and mental health. Many studies combine clinical trial and register data. Prof. Aas leads several research projects and teaches master’s courses in Economic Evaluation, including the EU-HEM programme.
Dr. Joanne M. Hackett is Vice President and Global Head of Health System Services at IQVIA, leading global strategy and innovation across healthcare systems, data, and transformation. She previously served as Chief Commercial Officer at Genomics England. A clinical academic, entrepreneur, and investor, she has extensive experience spanning start-ups, public institutions, and Fortune 500 organisations. Her work focuses on personalised medicine, prevention, open science, citizen genomics, and scalable, cost-effective healthcare solutions. An internationally recognised healthcare leader, she has received numerous awards for innovation and leadership. She is also a sought-after speaker and internationally known yoga instructor, promoting the belief that health equals wealth.
Jonathan Clark is an independent Strategy & Innovation advisor, offering one-to-one coaching, innovation leadership training, workshops and large-scale events. Before founding his own company in 2010, he spent 20 years at Elsevier. He is also a Guest Lecturer and External Examiner for master’s programmes in business innovation and strategic events management at Breda University of Applied Sciences, and serves as Managing Agent for the DOI Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation supporting the Digital Object Identifier System. Diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma in 2014, he later received CAR-T cell therapy after relapse and now lives mostly in Croatia, appreciating each moment today.
Maximilian Salcher-Konrad is a Senior Health Expert and Deputy Head of the Pharmacoeconomics Department at Gesundheit Österreich GmbH, the Austrian National Public Health Institute. His research focuses on pharmaceutical pricing, reimbursement, procurement, and policy. He holds an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing from the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and a BSc in Economics from the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Previously a Research Fellow at the LSE, he has led and published studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses on comparative effectiveness, pharmaceutical regulation, and economic evaluation.
- More information
For more information and registration, please visit the web page of ASCERTAIN.
