Professor Karen Hofman is the Director of PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons for Systems Strengthening) based at the Wits School of Public Health. (www.pricelesssa.ac.za).

PRICELESS is research programme providing information on “Best Buys” for public health using SA data. Analyses show how scarce resources, can be used effectively and efficiently to have the most impact. PRICELESS also demonstrates how to achieve better health through the use of fiscal, legislative and regulatory levers.

A medical graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand and trained as paediatrician, Karen previously served as Director of Policy and Planning at the US NIH, Fogarty International Center and spent a decade on the faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She has consulted for WHO /PAHO and is published widely in international journals.