Sandra Barbosu
Sandra Barbosu, PhD, is Senior Policy Manager in the Economics of Biopharmaceutical Innovation at ITIF’s Center for Life Sciences Innovation. Her research focuses on the economics of science and innovation, with a particular interest in emerging technologies in the healthcare setting.
Sandra is also Adjunct Professor in the Technology Management and Innovation Department at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering.
Prior to joining ITIF, Sandra served as Program Officer in Economics at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York, where she oversaw and assisted in the evaluation of grant proposals and strategy development.
Sandra holds a PhD in Strategic Management from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, an MSc in Precision Cancer Medicine from the University of Oxford, and a BA in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Rochester.
Research Areas
Recent Publications
Advancing Biomedical Innovation With Policies Supporting Privacy-Enhancing Technologies
By improving privacy protection and facilitating secure collaborative research, privacy-enhancing technology could complement data-sharing policies and enable analysis of sensitive medical data and support biomedical innovation.
The Relationship Between Biopharma R&D Investment and Expected Returns: Improving Evidence to Inform Policy
Better evidence is needed to evaluate the impact of policy changes on new drug development. Greater availability of government data should support more rigorous evaluations to inform evidence-based policymaking.
LATAM Health Champions, 2024
Innovation plays a critical role in improving public health and in overcoming global health challenges. The call for LATAM Health Champions, which ran from February 5 to March 5, 2024, received more than 60 applications proposing innovative health solutions to a wide range of health challenges. Here, the top 20 are highlighted.
Not Again: Why the United States Can’t Afford to Lose Its Biopharma Industry
America’s leadership in advanced-technology industries can never be taken for granted, as evidenced by its losses in telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, televisions, solar panels, and chemicals. Policymakers must recognize what went wrong in those cases to avoid a similar industrial decline in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Recent Events and Presentations
Preserving U.S. Leadership in Biopharmaceutical Innovation
Watch now for an expert panel discussion surrounding the ITIF report examining why the United States lost its lead in other advanced technology industries, and how policymakers can avoid repeating the same mistakes in the biopharmaceutical sector.