The Health Technology Wales Assessment Group quality assures our work, ensuring methodological and scientific rigour in the Health Technology Wales processes. The group oversees the production of the Evidence Appraisal Reports (EARs) and considers independent expert input. Current members are listed below.
Health Technology Wales Director, Assessment Group Chair
Dr Susan Myles
Susan has been engaged in applied health technology assessment for 25 years. Before joining Health Technology Wales, she led the development and work of the Scottish Health Technologies Group. Susan has received scholarships from the Department of Health and Medical Research Council, and is a previous recipient of a Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy. She holds qualifications in Economics (BA), Health Economics (MSc & PhD) and Epidemiology (PgDip).
Dr Pippa Anderson
Head of Swansea Centre for Health Economics
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Pippa moved into the field of health economics and outcomes research after gaining her Masters in Health Economics. Following her time in health economics consultancy, Pippa followed a long held ambition to complete a PhD in Health Economics and joined Swansea University, where she is now Acting Head and a Director of the Swansea Centre for Health Economics. Her expertise covers economic analysis, priority setting, healthcare policy, and research and economic evaluation using observational data.
Dr Andrew Champion
Assistant Director, Evidence Evaluation and Effectiveness
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Andrew has worked in the NHS for almost 30 years, covering a wide range of research and managerial roles. A strong interest in evidence-based medicine led to his appointment in 2003 as Manager/Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline programme. In 2016 Andrew took up his current role at the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC), where he is now enhancing the evidence-based decision making approach across the organisation.
Kiana Collins
Public Partner
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Kiana works as the Knowledge Officer (Research and Evidence) at Prostate Cancer UK. She is responsible for delivering analyses and assisting projects to ensure that the organisation’s strategy is underpinned by a scientific and clinical evidence base. Kiana has a BSc (hons) in Molecular Biology and Economics and recently completed her MSc in Global Population Health at the London School of Economics where she was awarded Titmuss Prize for best overall performance.
Ruth Crowder
Chief Therapies (Allied Health Professions) Adviser, Welsh Government
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Ruth Crowder is the Chief Allied Health Profession’s Advisor in Welsh Government. She provides leadership for 13 separate Allied Health Professions. Her professional background is as a registered occupational therapist. Her career spans practice in health and social care; she has worked in higher education and was Policy Officer for Wales at the royal college of Occupational Therapists before joining Welsh government in her current posy in 2018.
Andrew Evans
Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Welsh Government
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Andrew an independent adviser to the Welsh Government on all matters related to medicines, prescribing and pharmacy practice. He was the pharmaceutical adviser to the Home Office‘s Expert Panel on the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and is an honorary lecturer at Cardiff University with current research interests in the impact of pharmaceutical services on public health. He was awarded fellowship of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in 2018.
Dr James Evans
Research & Development Officer, Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory (SMTL)
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James works as a Research & Development Officer at the Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory. His work centres on carrying out evidence reviews for the Evidence Based Procurement Board. Previously James worked at Cedar, a healthcare technology research centre, where his work fed into the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's (NICE) Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme and Interventional Procedures Programme. James has a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and a PhD in Microbiology (Cardiff University).
Professor Peter Groves
Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Health Technology Wales Chair
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Peter is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at the University Hospital of Wales. He is also Chair of the MHRA Devices Expert Advisory Committee and the NICE Medical Technologies Advisory Committee, and has a great interest in the regulation and health technology assessment of innovative medical devices in the context of the UK NHS. Peter is committed to teaching and research, and has published widely on the scientific basis for medical technology development and utilisation.
Dr Rhys Morris
Director, Cedar Evaluation Centre
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Rhys has been Director of Cedar, the Centre for Healthcare Technology Research, since August 2020. He is a Consultant Clinical Scientist in Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering at the University Hospital of Wales, and has long experience of working with the Medical Device industry in the research and development of vascular diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Rhys specialises in the prevention of mechanical DVT, and co-ordinates the teaching of Medical Physics at undergraduate level at Cardiff University.
Dr Rob Orford
Chief Scientific Advisor, Welsh Government
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Rob has been the Chief Scientific Adviser for Health since January 2017. He is the professional lead for Genomics, Imaging, Pathology and Healthcare Science, and is involved in developing strategic national programmes in diagnostics and health science. He works closely with the Executive Directors of Therapies and Health Science, HTW and is sponsor of the Welsh Scientific Advisory Committee. He is an external working group member of the European Scientific Committee for Health, Environment and Emerging Risks.
Sarah Peddle
Public Partner
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Sarah joined the Involving People Network (IPN) – now public involvement community – in May 2017. She is also a member of the Public Involvement Delivery Board, a PRIME SUPER group and Consumer Panel for Data Linkage (SAIL) member. More recently, Sarah was appointed as a Theme Research Partner with the Wales Cancer Research Centre. Sarah is fully committed to supporting public involvement in research looks forward to contributing to Health Technology Wales' work.
Diane Seddon
Reader in Social Care, Bangor University
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Diane has lead in developing a successful social care research programme, attracting research grants totalling over £7 million. She has an established reputation for completing policy relevant research that has impact, including reviews of national policy implementation such as the National Carers Strategy in Wales for the Welsh Government. Diane contributes to the development and delivery of Welsh Government’s Research Infrastructure Support System and leads initiatives to better integrate research, policy and practice.
Dr Corinne Squire
Manager, South East Wales Academic Health Science Partnership, Health Science Network
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Corinne is an Innovation Specialist and Manager of the South East Wales Academic Health Science Partnership, working at the interface of academia and NHS to stimulate new partnerships between research organisations and the commercial sector. She has academic research experience in Biochemistry, Molecular biology & Chemistry, and industrial experience in Biotech start-ups. Before her current role, Corinne worked in Technology Transfer at Cardiff University and Translational Research with Severnside Alliance.
