Mark Harrison

Mark Harrison is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and an Affiliate Scientist at the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHÉOS). He maintains additional affiliations with Arthritis Research Canada, St. Paul’s Hospital, and the Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), where he leads the Initiative for Sustainable Health Care. His research bridges health economics, health technology assessment, and patient-centered care delivery.

Dr. Harrison earned a first-class Honours degree in Business and Management Sciences from the University of Bradford (2000), followed by an M.Sc. in Epidemiology from the University of Edinburgh (2002), and a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Manchester (2008). Prior to joining UBC in 2014, he conducted research at the University of Manchester on primary care incentives and surgical outcome measures.

His primary research focuses on measuring health valuation, assessing healthcare technologies and policies, and understanding patient preferences. He specializes in evaluating the type, timing, and delivery methods of healthcare interventions, particularly for chronic musculoskeletal conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. His work integrates economic modeling with clinical outcomes to optimize sustainable healthcare systems.

Analysis of his 2024-2025 publications reveals dominant themes in health economics (40%), patient-reported outcomes (30%), and health technology assessment (30%). Key trends include examining social determinants of health in arthritis outcomes, environmental sustainability in healthcare, pregnancy safety of biologic drugs, and optimizing rheumatology referral pathways using discrete choice experiments and latent class analysis.

Dr. Harrison has received significant recognition for his contributions to health research:

• MSFHR Scholar Award (2017) for sustainable chronic disease care models
• CIHR New Investigator Award (2016)

He supervises graduate students including Blair MacDonald (PhD in Pharmacology, heart failure decision-making) and Megan Thomas (PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, equity in inflammatory arthritis care). His funded projects include CIHR and MSFHR grants investigating biosimilar drug policies, nurse-supported rheumatology care models, and sustainable healthcare financing.

As leader of UBC's Initiative for Sustainable Health Care, Dr. Harrison directs interdisciplinary teams comprising pharmacists, economists, rheumatologists, and patient partners. His CORE group develops evidence-based tools for health technology assessment while collaborating with provincial health authorities to implement cost-effective chronic disease management programs across British Columbia.