Andreas Laupacis was President and CEO of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. He is a general internist health services researcher who has conducted studies that established the effectiveness of cyclosporine in transplantation, erythropoietin in renal disease, hip arthroplasty, and antithrombotic therapy in atrial fibrillation. He articulated the concept of the number needed to treat, and has developed decision aids to help patients make decisions about their own health care. Dr. Laupacis has written extensively about pharmaceutical policy, and interacts with decision makers in an attempt to incorporate science into policy. He is Chair of the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee.