Associate Prof Paul Hansen is on the three-person panel which was named by Health Minister Tony Ryall last week.
Prof Hansen, whose expertise includes health economics, said he was delighted to be invited on to the panel, which is expected to report to Mr Ryall in a year's time. The panel would consider access to medicines that are expensive and used for rare conditions.
Mr Ryall said research suggested in recent years New Zealand had subsidised significantly fewer innovative medicines than Australia.
Such medicines could provide patients with major, sometimes life-changing benefits, but the number of people who would benefit was small, and the cost to the health system was therefore not great.
The panel would look at ways access to such medicines can be improved.
A spokesman for Mr Ryall said no specific funding had been allocated for the possible outcome of the review.
The cost would come out of the $185.7 million new subsidised medicine funding (over four years) announced in the budget last week.
The other members of the panel are Dr Paul McCormack (chairman), former managing director of Pegasus Health in Christchurch, and former National MP Joy Quigley.
