Placebo Effects in Drug Development and Medical Practice: Scientific, Ethical, and Financial Complexities

Kathryn T. Hall is a researcher at Harvard Medical School’s Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter. After earning her PhD at Harvard in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Harvard University she spent 10 years in the biotech industry tackling problems in drug development, first at Wyeth and then at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where she became an Associate Director of Drug Development. In 2014 she completed a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health. In 2015 she published a landmark paper identifying genetic marker for placebo responders, Her research has been the focus of numerous articles including features in Science, The Atlantic, The economist and Discover magazines. She is the author of the book, Placebos, recently published as part of the MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series.