Under the terms of this agreement, the NCI, NIH will transfer $80,000 to NOPHG, CDC to provide funding from the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, DHHS to the Office of Public Health Genomics, CDC for the purpose of providing in a current cooperative agreement the Value of Information Analysis (VOI) which applies methods from economic theory and decision analysis to evaluate the value of research to society and individuals. Period of Agreement: This agreement shall be in effect from the date of the signature by both parties through September 30, 2010. Work may continue until the purpose of the agreement has been achieved. No additional funds are to be obligated in FY 2010. Authority: This agreement is entered into under the authority of the Economy Act of 1932, as amended (31 U.S.C. Section 1535 and 1536) and Section 301 of the Public Health Services Act. Estimated Cost: For performance of this agreement, total cost for the period if $80,00 Funding for FY 2010. Description of Work: Funding is for the purpose of providing in a current cooperative agreement the Value of Information Analysis (VOI) which applies methods from economic theory and decision analysis to evaluate the value of research to society and individuals. Specifically, VOI can be used to determine the expected humanistic and economic value of the information gained from a particular research study proposal, stated in terms of clinical endpoints, years of life gained (YLG), quality adjusted years of life (QALYs), and dollars. In a world of limited funding for research, VOI can be useful to decision makers who must try to maximize the value of their research portfolio when choosing among competing research proposals. The tasks of this proposal will include the following: Objective 1: Modify software tool: The software tool is currently oriented to cancer therapies and will be modified to address genomic tests, and considers several domains related to genomic test: (a) influence on clinical practice;(b) estimated survival impacts and their valuation in economic terms;(c) economic efficiency in terms of cost per life year gained. Some modification will be necessary to account for attributes related to testing;e.g., sensitivity, specificity. In addition, we may reformat the presentation pages to make it user-friendly to external audiences. Objective 2: Pilot test and assess software tool. Pilot testing will proceed in 5 phases: Training: the stakeholder group will require a short tutorial in the theory, methods and application of VOI. This will be done in 1-2 conference calls, or during one of the planned in-person meetings. The meetings will include ample time for questions Example: An example of the VOI technique applied to a cancer genomic test will be completed prior to the meeting and presented to the group. Feedback: We will solicit feedback from the stakeholder group on the VOI tool and presentation method for the sample genomic test. Feedback will be solicited during brief 1-1 telephone conversations, using a script. Responses will be collated and reported back to the investigators for review and consideration. Refine tool: We will refine the model, inputs and outputs following feedback from the stakeholder group
