PhD Candidates

Emma Cousin headshot

Emma Cousin, PharmD, PhC

Emma is a fourth-year PhD candidate at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy CHOICE Institute. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from UW, providing a strong clinical foundation for her research focused on drug pricing, health policy, and health economics.

Emma’s dissertation focuses on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, where she develops predictive models to forecast drug selection, estimates price benchmarks to predict initial price offers, and estimates Medicare and patient spending. Her predictive model correctly identified 13 of the 15 drugs selected for IPAY 2027 and 2028 using Medicare Part B and D spending data, and her price benchmarking work applies a novel pricing algorithm using a variety of utilization data sources including 100% Medicare claims. The results from this work have directly shaped federal policy discussions. Emma has briefed Congressional staff on the Senate Ways and Means, and Finance Committees, the Congressional Budget Office, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and has presented to 400+ stakeholders on various ISPOR and industry webinars.

Emma has authored or co-authored 16 peer-reviewed publications, including work appearing in JAMA, Value in Health, Health Affairs, and the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, two of which ranked among JMCP’s most-read articles in 2025. She received the PhRMA Foundation Manuscript Challenge Award, along with her co-authors. Beyond her doctoral work, Emma works as a Research Associate at Curta, Inc. where she leads cost-effectiveness models, statistical and technical reports, and contributes to real-world evidence generation to support pricing strategies for industry clients. Emma is particularly eager to bring her expertise in Medicare drug pricing and health policy to an organization dedicated to generating evidence-based research that guides pharmaceutical and health policy decision-making.

CV | LinkedIn | Email: emc95@uw.edu

Ben Nwogu

Ifechukwu Benedict (Ben) Nwogu, BPharm, MPH, PhC

Ben is a fifth-year PhD candidate at the University of Washington CHOICE Institute with a background spanning pharmacy practice, public health, and health economics and outcomes research (HEOR). He holds a Master of Public Health in Global Health from the University of Nottingham and previously practiced as both a community and hospital pharmacist in Nigeria, giving him a grounded clinical perspective that shapes his research on pharmaceutical value and access.

Ben’s dissertation focuses on the comparative evaluation of advanced prostate cancer therapies, examining the cost-effectiveness and real-world performance of treatment regimens to inform clinical and formulary decision-making. His broader research portfolio spans HIV and infectious disease prevention, pharmacist-delivered care models, and medicine access in low-resource settings. Ben’s research has been presented at ISPOR, CROI, ASCO, and the American Epilepsy Society, and he has contributed to several peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals, including The Lancet HIV, Vaccine, and the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. During his doctoral training, Ben served as President of the University of Washington ISPOR Student Chapter, following prior leadership roles as Secretary and Vice President.

Beyond academia, Ben has accumulated substantial industry experience. As a HEOR Analyst at Neurocrine Biosciences, he manages cross-functional vendor relationships and champions real-world evidence generation and dissemination strategies to support robust value demonstration. Prior internships at BioLineRx and Agios Pharmaceuticals deepened his expertise in value proposition development, cost-effectiveness modeling, and HTA strategy across oncology and rare disease therapeutic areas. Earlier, as a Business Development Associate at Advantage Health Africa, he executed multiple strategic partnerships that expanded pharmaceutical access for patients across Nigeria.

Ben is passionate about connecting rigorous economic evidence to real-world decisions that improve patient access and health system value. He is eager to bring his analytical skills, pharmaceutical industry experience, and collaborative approach to an organization working at the intersection of health economics, strategy, and outcomes research.

CV | LinkedIn | Google Scholar | Email: inwogu@uw.edu

Industry Fellows

Minseon (Min) Chung, PharmD, MPH, MS

Min is a second-year postdoctoral fellow with The CHOICE Institute and Novo Nordisk, where she currently supports HEOR/RWE initiatives within the Clinical Data Science and Evidence department. At Novo Nordisk, she applies her research and strategic skills to support evidence generation and value demonstration, particularly through executing RWE studies, systematic literature reviews, economic modeling, study concept development, vendor partnered studies, and evidence communication in the Alzheimer’s Disease and diabetes portfolio.

During her first year of fellowship, Min completed her Master’s training in HEOR at the CHOICE Institute, with research spanning targeted literature review, comparative synthesis of clinical trials and cost-effectiveness analyses of aducanumab, lecanemab, and donanemab along with comprehensive value assessments across diverse usage scenarios among the Alzheimer’s Disease population in the US. Armed with a PharmD, a Master of Public Health in epidemiology, and diverse experience across clinical pharmacy, healthcare administration, and academic research, Min is driven to leverage the breadth of her knowledge to deliver compelling strategy and synthesis in HEOR operations.

Min is currently seeking an HEOR role within the pharmaceutical industry, where she can translate her cross-therapeutic experience and interdisciplinary background into high-impact evidence generation and strategic HEOR initiatives.

CV | Google Scholar |LinkedIn | Email: mvchung@uw.edu

Divya Jain, PharmD, MS

Divya is a second-year post-doctoral fellow with the University of Washington CHOICE Institute and Genentech. She has a PharmD from the University of Colorado and earned her MS in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the CHOICE Institute. Currently, she sits within the Evidence for Access team at Genentech, primarily supporting the Neuroimmunology and Immunology portfolios, while also contributing to evidence generation and strategy for a range of therapeutic areas.

During her time at Genentech, Divya is leading and supporting several critical evidence generation strategies for both marketed and pipeline indications. This includes independently leading RWE studies from conception to final delivery, creating Health Technology Assessment (HTA) submissions, literature reviews, database assessments, landscape analyses, impact measurements, etc.

In the first year of her fellowship, Divya completed a retrospective claims database analysis evaluating healthcare resource utilization and costs among MS patients across rural and urban settings. Divya possesses a diverse background prior to her fellowship, including experiences in global health economics, market access, managed care and drug development at Cencora, Premera Blue Cross, and Janssen.

As Divya concludes her fellowship, she is actively seeking an in-house or field HEOR role in pharmaceutical industry where she can continue to develop her career as a health economist as well as leverage her technical expertise to drive equitable access and value strategy.

CV | LinkedIn | Email: jaindi@uw.edu

Selected work:

Rachel Kneitel, PharmD, MS

Rachel is a second-year post-doctoral fellow with the University of Washington CHOICE Institute and AbbVie. She is a pharmacist by training and earned her MS in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the CHOICE Institute. At AbbVie, she supports the hematology portfolio across in-line and pipeline products.

During her fellowship, Rachel has led and contributed to multiple HEOR initiatives, including real-world evidence analyses, budget impact models, indirect treatment comparisons, and patient-reported outcome strategies. She partners with cross-functional teams to generate evidence that informs HTA submissions, value demonstration, and market access strategy across US and international markets. In her first year, Rachel conducted a retrospective claims analysis evaluating healthcare resource utilization and costs among patients with AML receiving post-transplant maintenance therapy.

Prior to her fellowship, Rachel gained experience in managed care pharmacy, real-world market access analytics at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine where she developed a health equity dashboard, and completed a Global HEOR internship at AbbVie.

As she completes her fellowship, Rachel is seeking HEOR opportunities where she can apply her expertise in evidence generation, economic modeling, and value demonstration to support patient access to novel therapies.

CV | LinkedIn | Email: rkneitel@uw.edu

Jean Lee, PharmD, MS

Jean is a second-year postdoctoral fellow at the CHOICE Institute in partnership with Bayer Pharmaceuticals. She holds a master’s degree in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) from the University of Washington and brings a strong foundation in both the academic and industry sides of HEOR.

At Bayer, Jean contributes to real-world evidence generation and market access readiness across oncology and cardiovascular pipelines. Her work spans the full research lifecycle — from protocol design and vendor coordination to statistical analysis, cost-effectiveness modeling, AMCP dossier development, and congress presentations — with a consistent focus on producing payer-relevant evidence that supports launch strategy.

Before the fellowship, she gained industry experience at Bristol Myers Squibb evaluating global HTA submissions and reimbursement strategies, and at Cencora supporting pipeline and competitive landscape analyses for new business development. She also brings health system experience from her time as a 340B Analyst Extern at UI Health.

Looking ahead, Jean aspires to grow into a strategic HEOR role in the pharmaceutical industry, where she can bridge evidence generation and market access to inform formulary decision-making and support patient access to innovative therapies.

CV | LinkedIn | Email: jlee100@uw.edu

Kathryn Perkins, PharmD, MS

Kathryn is an emerging Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) professional currently finishing second-year of her post-doctoral fellowship with University of Washington (UW) CHOICE Institute and Pfizer. She is a pharmacist by training and earned her MS in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the University of Washington. In addition to developing foundational skills in HEOR and study design, while at UW, Kathryn built cost-effectiveness model evaluating the use of olanzapine for management of cancer cachexia in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. For her thesis, Kathryn conducted a claims database analysis to assess healthcare resource utilization and costs of colorectal, lung, and pancreatic cancer patients with and without cachexia.

At Pfizer, Kathryn supports the Global HTA, Value and Evidence Oncology team. Her work at Pfizer has strengthened her skills in executing RWE studies, building economic models, indirect treatment comparisons, global and AMCP value dossier development, systematic literature reviews, and supporting clinical outcome assessment primary endpoints in clinical trials. She collaborates with her cross-functional colleagues to develop innovative study ideas and strategic planning for evidence to support global and US access.

As she completes her fellowship, Kathryn is seeking opportunities in HEOR roles, where she can contribute to HEOR strategy, evidence generation, and value demonstration to improve patient access to innovative therapies in the US and globally.

CV | Linkedin | Email: kperki2@uw.edu

Nissen Weisman, PharmD, MS

Nissen Weisman is a postdoctoral fellow with the CHOICE Institute at the University of Washington in collaboration with Genentech, where his work focuses on oncology health economics and outcomes research across both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. He earned his Master of Science in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the University of Washington after completing his Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Connecticut. During the first year of his fellowship, Nissen completed a claims-based research thesis evaluating healthcare resource utilization and costs among patients with mantle cell lymphoma receiving third-line therapy in the United States, generating real-world evidence to better characterize treatment burden and inform value assessment in a rapidly evolving treatment landscape.

At Genentech, Nissen contributes to evidence generation supporting oncology product development and launch activities across multiple indications, including breast cancer and hematologic cancers such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia and mantle cell lymphoma. His work includes designing and executing real-world evidence studies using EHR and claims data, developing economic models to evaluate clinical and economic value, synthesizing evidence to identify research gaps, and contributing to value dossiers used to communicate outcomes evidence to payers and healthcare decision-makers. His broader research interests center on oncology outcomes research, real-world evidence generation, and the application of HEOR methods to support evidence-based access to innovative therapies. As he completes his fellowship, Nissen is seeking an industry-based HEOR role where he can contribute to evidence strategy and value demonstration supporting patient access to innovative therapies across US and global healthcare settings.

CV | LinkedIn | Email: nissenw@uw.edu

Olivia Yip, PharmD, MS

Olivia is a second-year HEOR post-doctoral Fellow with the University of Washington (UW) and AbbVie. In her current role, she combines her clinical pharmacy background with health economics expertise to drive strategic evidence generation to support two neurodegeneration products in the US and International Markets. She leads a range of research, from real-world studies to economic modeling and patient-centered outcomes research, to strengthen asset differentiation and inform market access strategy. She collaborates closely with cross-functional partners, external clinicians, and patient advocacy groups, ensuring provider and patient perspectives are incorporated into the research. Olivia has a strong track record of conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications, demonstrating her ability to translate data into impactful scientific communications.

Prior to joining AbbVie, Olivia earned her MS in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the UW CHOICE Institute, where she focused on learning methods to generate evidence for value assessment and access strategy. She conducted a retrospective cohort study using MarketScan data to quantify the economic and clinical burden of depression among individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. She also developed a cost-utility model evaluating behind-the-counter oseltamivir from both the healthcare sector and modified societal perspectives, demonstrating the economic and public health value of expanded access. In her spare time, Olivia volunteers as Affiliate Faculty at the UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy, where she leads research initiatives in cost-effectiveness and health equity, delivers lectures on managed care and health economics, and mentors students on database-driven outcomes research. She is seeking her next opportunity within the pharmaceutical industry to advance strategic evidence generation, inform value and access strategy, and translate rigorous research into meaningful patient impact.

CV | LinkedIn | Google Scholar | Email: oyip@uw.edu