Draft:David Ridley (economist)

David Ridley is a health economist and the Faculty Director for the Center for Health Sector Management at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. His most influential research focuses on the economics of innovative medical products, particularly the development, manufacturing, and pricing of pharmaceuticals.

Career
Ridley's research has had a significant effect on public policy. He was the lead author of two articles that became law in the United States.

In 2006, Ridley with Jeffrey Moe and Henry Grabowski, proposed the Food and Drug Administration's priority review voucher program. The voucher program became law in the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA) of 2007. Ridley was the subject of a profile in the Wall Street Journal, "Medical Miracles From FDA Inefficiency", which explored his career, research, and the significant impacts of the voucher program on drug development for rare diseases.

In 2015, Ridley, Jeffrey Moe, and Nick Hamon proposed the Environmental Protection Agency's vector expedited review voucher (VERV) program. It became law seven years later in the Pesticide Registration and Improvement Act of 2022.

Since 2013, Ridley has served as the Faculty Director for the Center for Health Sector Management, one of the largest health sector programs at a leading business school.

Ridley also teaches and mentors students. He was named a favorite business school MBA professor in Poets and Quants in 2016, 2021, and 2022.