Admission: Summer 2020

On the Job Market!

Education

  • MS, Pharmaceutical Sciences- Health Outcomes Track,  University of Cincinnati
  • BPharm, Cairo University

Zizi is a fifth-year PhD candidate at the CHOICE Institute, drawing on a diverse background in pharmacy, health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), and policy analysis. She holds a master’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences (health outcomes track) and previously practiced as a pharmacist, providing a strong clinical foundation for her research in healthcare policy and economics.

Zizi’s dissertation assesses how a subscription-based Medicaid payment model influences Hepatitis C outcomes in Washington and Louisiana. Using claims data, synthetic controls, and Markov modeling, she evaluates the model’s effects on testing, treatment uptake, and potential long-term societal benefits compared to traditional pricing approaches. This research provides evidence on the value of innovative financing strategies for expanding access to Hepatitis C therapies.

Beyond her doctoral work, Zizi has accumulated extensive research and industry experience. As a Research Scientist Intern at Amazon, she worked with large claims datasets and electronic health records using SQL, performed analyses in Python and R, and developed health economic models to forecast the costs and resource utilization associated with hypertension. In her role as a Research Assistant at the Washington Research Foundation, she applied early-stage cost-effectiveness methods to support biotech startups, assessing the potential economic value of novel treatments for autism and fentanyl use disorder. Additionally, Zizi served as an Independent Consultant at Veritech Corporation, where she performed statistical and economic evaluations of high-cost therapies—particularly for hepatitis C—to inform strategic decision making. Earlier in her graduate studies, she interned with Genentech, supporting market launch activities for Tecentriq through budget impact, cost-effectiveness, and burden-of-illness analyses in early-stage lung cancer.

Zizi’s work has been presented at national and international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals such as Value in Health and PharmacoEconomics. She has led or contributed to research on multiple disease areas, including hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, oncology, and autism. Her expertise spans real-world evidence generation, policy analysis, decision modeling, cost-effectiveness and budget impact analysis, and causal inference.

Throughout her doctoral journey, Zizi has taken on leadership roles in professional organizations such as ISPOR, contributing to committees that promote education, outreach, and chapter onboarding. She is passionate about translating rigorous research into actionable insights that inform healthcare policies and improve patient outcomes. Zizi is excited to bring her strong analytical skills, multidisciplinary perspective, and collaborative spirit to an organization dedicated to advancing health outcomes and evidence-based decision making.

Advisor: Anirban Basu

Curriculum Vitae

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