Koonal's research interests include health state valuation methodology and the use of social value judgements in health care decision making. He has published over 35 journal articles and book chapters on these topics, and has led research and consulting projects for health care providers, research foundations, policy makers and global pharmaceutical companies.

Recent projects include:

• A programme of empirical studies exploring societal preferences regarding the value of life-extending, end-of-life treatments. This project was funded by NICE’s Decision Support Unit.
• A review of evidence on the health-related quality of long-term cancer survivors, and an assessment of implications for future technology appraisals in oncology. This project was commissioned by Roche Products Ltd.
• A study of public preferences across curative and non-curative therapies, and large and small health gains. This project was funded by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.
• A workshop for managers at a global pharmaceutical company examining how ‘unmet need’ is defined and applied as a criterion underpinning regulatory and HTA decision making.
• A study to develop methods to elicit health state values from the general public in the United Arab Emirates. This project was conducted in collaboration with local academics and the pharmaceutical industry.

Koonal has a BA in Economics and Philosophy from the University of Nottingham, and an MSc (with distinction) in Health Economics from the University of York, and a PhD in Health Economics from University of Sheffield. Prior to joining OHE in 2008, he was a Business Analyst at Capital One in Nottingham. He is a member of the EuroQol Group, and currently serves on the Group’s Executive Committee. Between 2016 and 2018 he was co-chair of the EuroQol Group Scientific Plenary Meeting, an annual conference.