Interview with: Ron Hays, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles
Ron Hays, PhD, has served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes (JPRO) since 2020, and concluded his term in July 2022. ISOQOL would like to thank Dr. Hays for his hard work and dedication to the journal.
Dr. Hays has been an ISOQOL member since the Society’s inaugural meeting in Brussels, and has been active in the community ever since. In addition to serving as JPRO Co-Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Hays has served as an Associate Editor and Editor-in-Chief for the journal Quality of Life Research (QLR) and chaired the 2005 ISOQOL Annual Conference in San Francisco, California, United States.
This involvement paved the way to becoming Co-Editor-in-Chief of JPRO, along with his “desire to contribute to scientific and financial viability of ISOQOL.” When asked what serving as JPRO Co-Editor-in-Chief meant to him, Dr. Hays said, “Advancing the science of patient-reported outcomes within ISOQOL and beyond.”
Dr. Hays originally joined ISOQOL because its focus on health related quality of life (HRQL) had been a major interest of his since 1984, when he started at the RAND Corporation as an investigator on the Medical Outcomes Study. He loves HRQL research’s “relevance to daily life and opportunity to ensure what is important to people is prioritized in health care.”
To Dr. Hays, being an ISOQOL member means having opportunities to stay current with patient-reported outcomes (PROs) research and applications in clinical practice through ISOQOL’s journals and other educational programs, such as webinars and annual meetings. “The annual meetings and the people who attend them throughout the world” is his favorite thing about ISOQOL.
Some of Dr. Hay’s greatest professional accomplishments so far include:
- Receiving the 2022 Career Achievement Award by Health Assessment Lab
- Receiving the 2009 ISOQOL President’s Award
- Being recognized as a highly cited researcher by Web of Science: Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters) from 2019-2021
- Receiving ISOQOL Honorary Member Status
- Being ranked #326 top medical scientist in the world by Research.com in 2022
Recently, Dr. Hays learned the potential of generalizability theory for his patient experience with health care work. The current project he is working on includes evaluating individual-level change.
Many ISOQOL members may not know that Dr. Hays enjoys watching Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in his free time. The best piece of career advice he’s ever received is “take it one day at a time,” which is truly universal.
This newsletter editorial represents the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ISOQOL.
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The International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) is a global community of researchers, clinicians, health care professionals, industry professionals, consultants, and patient research partners advancing health related quality of life research (HRQL).
Together, we are creating a future in which patient perspective is integral to health research, care and policy.