Email: akesselheim@partners.org
Phone: 617-278-0930
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Mail: Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Suite 3030, 1620 Tremont St., Boston MA 02120 <br/>
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Biographical Note:
Aaron S. Kesselheim, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is also an AHRQ Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1996 and received his postgraduate training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Law School, where he was selected to join the Alpha Omega Alpha and Order of the Coif honor societies, respectively. He is Board Certified in internal medicine and manages a primary care clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he also attends on the general medicine inpatient service. Dr. Kesselheim’s research focuses on the effects of intellectual property laws and government (e.g., FDA) regulatory policies on pharmaceutical development, the drug approval process, and the costs and availability of therapeutic entities both domestically and in resource-poor settings. He has also investigated how other legal issues impact the American health care system, including expert testimony in malpractice cases, health care fraud, and insurance reimbursement practices. He is a member of the New York State Bar and is a Patent Attorney.

Research Interests:
Access to Medications Cost / Cost-Effectiveness FDA Intellectual Property / Patents Litigation Regulation

Publications:

• Kesselheim AS, Misono AS, Lee JL, Stedman MR, Brookhart MA, Choudhry NK, Shrank WH. The clinical equivalence of generic and  and brand-name drugs used in cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.  J Amer Med Assn 2008;300:2514-2526.
  
• Kesselheim AS, Avorn J. The role of litigation in defining drug risks. JAMA 2007;297:308- 311. 
• Kesselheim AS. Intellectual property policy in the pharmaceutical sciences: the effect of inappropriate patents and market exclusivity extensions on the health care system. AAPS Journal 2007;9:Article 33. 
• Kesselheim AS, Avorn J. “Patents and public health.” [Textbook chapter] In: Galea S, ed. Macrosocial Determinants of Health. Springer Science; 2007. 
• Kesselheim AS, Studdert DM. Role of professional organizations in regulating physician expert witness testimony. JAMA 2007;298:2907-2909. 
• Kesselheim AS, Mello MM.  Medical process patents – monopolizing the delivery of health care. New Eng J Med 2006;355:2036- 2041. 
• Kesselheim AS, Avorn J. Biomedical patents and the public’s health: is there a role for eminent domain? JAMA 2006;295(4):434-437.
• Kesselheim AS, Ferris TG, Studdert DM. Will physician-level measures of clinical performance be used in medical malpractice litigation? JAMA 2006;295(15):1831-1834.
• Kesselheim AS, Fischer MA, Avorn J. The rise and fall of Natrecor for congestive heart failure: implications for drug policy. Health Aff 2006;25(4):1095- 1102.
• Kesselheim AS, Studdert DM. Characteristics of physicians who frequently act as expert witnesses in neurologic birth injury litigation. Obstet Gynecol 2006;108(2):273- 279. 
• Kesselheim AS, Avorn J.  University-based science and biotechnology products: defining the boundaries of intellectual property. JAMA 2005;293:850-854.

Active Research Projects:
risk assessment and risk reduction, particularly related to breast cancer; Ethnic differences, IP on drug costs and development