David B. Matchar is a Professor of Medicine and Pathology at Duke University School of Medicine, where he was Director of the Duke Center for Clinical Health Policy Research[1] and the first Director of the Duke Evidence-based Practice Center.[2]
In 2008 he became the Inaugural Director of the Programme in Health Services and Systems Research at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and is a professor in the programme.[3] He is the Head of Health Economics and Policy for the Singapore genomics initiative, PRECISE, and the Principal of Requisite Consulting, Singapore.[4] He has been a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford.[5]
Matchar has contributed to the application of Decision Theory and System Dynamics to complex problems in health care.[6] He has led several research initiatives demonstrating the value of causal/calculational models not only as analytic tools, but as boundary objects to synergize multidisciplinary research. This includes the Stroke Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) which was used to identify the most promising targets for reducing the burden of stroke in the US, including a version specifically for the Department of Veterans Affairs; and the Enhancing Primary Care (EPC) model developed to support healthcare transformation in Singapore.[7] He was given the A*STaR Career Award by the Singapore National Medical Research Council to develop capabilities in systems modeling to address the problems of caring for the increasingly elderly and medically complex population of Singapore, under the Health Systems Design Lab and extended internationally, including Europe, Southeast Asia, the United States and the South Pacific.[8]
He currently serves on the Systems Thinking Expert Group (STEG) of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, hosted by the World Health Organization.[9]