Samantha Pollard
Assistant Professor of Professional Practice
Samantha Pollard
Assistant Professor of Professional Practice
- spollard@sfu.ca
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Clinical Support Building
Areas of interest
Precision medicine, oncology, clinical evaluation, economic evaluation, mixed methods, and epidemiology
Education
- Bachelor of Arts (honours philosophy), University of British Columbia
- Master of Science (Health Research Methodology), McMaster University
- Doctor of Philosphy (Population and Public Health), University of British Columbia
Biography
Dr. Pollard holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of British Columbia, a Master of Science in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University, and a PhD in Population and Public Health from the University of British Columbia. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at BC Cancer, generating data and evidence to inform reimbursement and patient access decision making for precision oncology services and technologies.
Dr. Pollard serves as co-investigator on the Canadian Network for Learning Healthcare Systems and Cost-Effective ‘Omics Innovations (CLEO), the Precision Oncology Evidence Development in Cancer Treatment (PREDiCT) program, and a member of the Terry Fox Research Institute Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network’s (TFRI MOHCCN) Health Technology Assessment Working Group, and convener for Research and International Collaboration for the International Health Economics Association’s (iHEA) Economics of Genomics and Precision Medicine Special Interest Group.
Dr. Pollard joined SFU’s faculty of Health Sciences in January 2024 as Adjunct Professor. Appointed to Practitioner Faculty, Assistant Professor in May of 2025, in addition to her faculty appointment, Dr. Pollard is an Investigator at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Her research lab generates patient and family valued evidence for pediatric oncology access and implementation decisions.
Research Interests
Dr. Pollard’s research program is centered on the direct and ongoing engagement of patients, patient advocates, and caregivers to co-develop values informed methods and evidence for post-market oncology innovations. Her program characterizes patient, family and other health system interest-holder values related to novel oncology treatments and technologies, using qualitative and mixed methods. With specific interests in patient-oriented clinical trial design and decision support intervention development, Dr. Pollard seeks to integrate health system perspectives across the development and evaluation life-cycle of oncology technologies and treatments. In addition, Dr. Pollard’s research program generates clinical and economic evaluations supporting public reimbursement and timely patient access. Bridging her experience in advanced cancers, hereditary cancer syndromes, and pediatric rare disease settings, Dr. Pollard combines trial, administrative, and preference-based data to generate evidence guiding access and uptake decisions.
Publications
View Dr. Pollard's publications here