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June
PhD positions (2): The Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)
Location: Bern, Switzerland
Application deadline: June 1, 2010
The Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) employs some 100 staff and provides under-graduate and post-graduate education and carries out research in a range of disciplines relevant to Public Health. ISPM offers a lively,interdisciplinary environment with excellent computing and library facilities. With its mediaeval architecture, the Swiss capital city of Bern is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which offers excellent quality of life in the proximity ofthe Alps.
Two PhD positions in health/social sciences are available from August 1, 2010, funded for 3 years by the Swiss National Science Foundation. We are seeking PhD candidates with a strong Social Science, Public Health or Economics background at the Masters level. Ideal candidates are strongly motivated graduatestudents/research assistants with solid or advanced competencies in quantitative data analysis and a basic interest in social theory.
The new positions are part of a larger research program that explores the key factors and dynamics of structure and agency processes in the production and re-production of social inequalities in health. The program applies theory based concepts (Capitals, Capabilities) to a large data set newly available from the Swiss Youth Survey. Within that program PhD students are encouraged to develop their own area of expertise. For further details on that program go to http://www.Gesundheitsforschung.ch.
Applicants should be well familiar with statistical packages such as SPSS, SAS, Stata or MPLUS. Experience with multivariate modelling techniques would be advantageous. Working languages will be German and/or English.
Candidates should be committed to working in small groups based on mutual support and advancement, and will be collaborating with researchers at the Department of Econometrics, University of Geneva.
Salaries of the PhD position are based on the salary scale of the Swiss National Science Foundation. For any specific questions send an email to Prof. Thomas Abel: abel@ispm.unibe.ch.
Please submit your application including curriculum vitae as soon as possible, but no later than June 1, 2010. Applications should be addressed to Prof. Thomas Abel and send electronically to abel@ispm.unibe.ch.
Universitaet Bern, Institut fuer Sozial-und Praeventivmedizin, Abteilung fuer Gesundheitsforschung,Niesenweg 6, CH-3012 Bern, http://www.ispm.unibe.ch
June
Inequalities in Health and Health Care
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Date:
June 7 to 11, 2010
Registration:
Online until 22 May 2010
Prof. Eddy van Doorslaer (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Prof. Owen O’Donnell (University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki & EUR)
Description:
The course is intended for PhD students and other researchers interested in the quantitative analysis of inequality and inequity in health and health care. It consists of five days of lectures and computing laboratory sessions on a number of topics related to the measurement and explanation of inequalities in health and health care. Apart from providing a general introduction to the range of approaches available to researchers, it also provides practical guidance on various issues of computation. Illustrative examples draw on analyses conducted of OECD and developing countries. Students are assessed on their completion of a practical exercise of data analysis.
Objectives:
The aims of the laboratory are:
- To review approaches to the measurement of inequality and inequity employed in health economics and other fields
- To provide detailed guidance on computational procedures using Stata and the World Bank’s ADePT package
- To provide hands-on experience with computation-based exercises
Course text:
O. O’Donnell, E. van Doorslaer, A. Wagstaff and M. Lindelow (2008) Analysing Health Equity using Household Survey Data, Washington DC, World Bank. http://www.worldbank.org/analyzinghealthequity
Course homepage:
http://www.ssphplus.ch/phdcourses-hep
June
Empirical Methods in Health Economics: Analysis of Efficiency and Consumer Choices
Location: Lugano
Venue: University of Lugano
Date:
June 17 to 21, 2010
Registration:
Online until 29 May 2010
Prof. William Greene (New York University)
Prof. Massimo Filippini (University of Lugano)
Dr. Mehdi Farsi (University of Lugano, ETH Zurich)
Presentation:
This laboratory offers an intensive course on the theory and practice of productive efficiency and consumer choice in the health care sector. Both conceptual and methodological issues will be addressed. The course focuses on stochastic frontier analysis and a selection of discrete choice models. The students will have the opportunity of applying these models to several data sets and acquire the econometric skills to initiate their own research in the related topics. A selection of empirical studies in health economics will be discussed.
Objectives:
At the end of the laboratory, participants should have acquired the following skills:
- Use econometric approaches with cross-sectional and panel data to model and measure technical, allocative and scale efficiency, assess the appropriate use of parametric approaches, and understand the advantages and drawbacks of different model specifications and functional forms.
- Econometric analysis of consumer preferences with discrete choice models considering unobserved heterogeneity across individuals and estimating the probabilities and marginal effects using various cross-section and panel data models.
Course homepage: http://www.ssphplus.ch/phdcourses-hep
June
Understanding and Critiquing Health Economic Models: York Health Economics Consortium, University of York
Location: York, UK
Date: 18 June 2010
Further information can be found at: http://php.york.ac.uk/inst/yhec/?q=content/health-economic-models
If you have any queries about YHEC courses please contact Julie Glanville (e-mail: jmg1@york.ac.uk) or YHEC Support Services, tel: 01904-433620.
June
PhD Studentship: University of Leicester
Location: Leicester, England, UK
Department: Health Sciences, University of Leicester
Stipend: £15,090 pa + UK/EU tuition fees
Supervisors: Professor Alex Sutton ajs22@le.ac.uk and Dr Nicola Cooper njc21@le.ac.uk
Application deadline: 25th June 2010
To determine how effective and cost-effective are a range of strategies for preventing unintentional falls, poisonings and scald injuries in pre-school children.
Applications are invited for a four year full time PhD studentship as part of the ‘Keeping Children Safe at Home’ Research Programme funded via a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) programme grant. The programme comprises of 6 research questions:
Q1) Which interventions are effective in protecting against Falls (F), Poisonings (P) & Thermal (T) injuries?
Q2) What are the NHS and family costs of F, P & T injuries?
Q3) What injury prevention interventions are being undertaken by Children’s Centres (as part of their role in delivering child health services) and partner organisations (PCTs, Fire and Rescue Services, Voluntary Agencies, etc) to prevent F, P & T injuries?
Q4) What are the barriers and facilitators to implementing F, P & T injury prevention interventions amongst agencies, professionals and community members?
Q5) How effective and cost-effective is implementing an Injury Prevention Briefing (IPB) for one exemplar injury prevention intervention?
Q6) How effective and cost-effective are a range of strategies to maximise uptake of interventions for preventing F, P & T injury based on decision analytic models incorporating data generated from research questions 1-5 and systematic reviews of the published literature.
This PhD will focus on Q6 (above) and the main objective will be to develop and evaluate decision analytic models to assess the most cost-effective strategies to prevent F, P & T injuries. Specific tasks will include:
- Review previous literature on decision modelling in accident prevention
- Develop decision model structures for different types of injury (e.g. falls, poisonings and thermal)
- Parameterise the decision models using data obtained from:
- A review of systematic reviews of quantitative evidence, updated with evidence from recent primary studies, the case-control studies (Q1),
- the survey of injury prevention activity (Q3),
- surveys of injured and uninjured children (Q2), and
- data on costs of interventions will be obtained from existing safety equipment schemes.
Data analyses will be customised for different populations (e.g. deprivation, ethnicity, single-parent families etc) where there is evidence of differential uptake, or effectiveness of interventions amongst those groups. Data on differential effectiveness will be obtained from recent meta-regression analyses undertaken by the applicants and from more recent primary studies. Models will be stochastic and will take account of uncertainty around, and correlation between, parameter estimates.
The findings from these analyses will inform Injury Prevention Briefings produced for all interventions found to be cost-effective.
Applications including a Curriculum Vitae, brief research statement outlining why you are interested in the PhD, and names and contact details of two academic referees should be sent to Branka Besevic bb100@le.ac.uk by 25th June 2010.
Funding Notes
The studentship will cover full time tuition fees (at the UK/EU rate only) for four years and provide a tax-free stipend starting at £15,090 each year. A Research Training Support Grant will also be available.
Applicants must have, or expect to obtain, a first or upper-second class honours degree in a relevant subject from a UK university or the equivalent. Applicants whose first language is not English must have achieved an IELTS score of at least 6.5 or hold a degree taught in English.
June
Risk sharing and patient access schemes (PAS): The Office of Health Economics
Location: London, UK
Date: 29 June 2010
Master the theory and practice of risk sharing and patient access schemes (PAS) at our one-day expert practitioner workshop
This one-day workshop focuses on how to implement risk sharing and patient access schemes within a market access strategy. Delivered in a highly interactive format, the day includes ample opportunity for lively discussion, group break-outs, role play scenarios and the sharing of experiences.
“Patient access schemes can deliver mutual benefits to patients, payors and industry. Managed correctly, they improve speed of access to new medicines and provide real opportunity for developing partnerships.”
Led by Dr Francois Lucas, Principal, Pope Woodhead and Associates, and Professor Adrian Towse, Director, Office of Health Economics.
A high-impact event with high-value outcomes
- Understand the ‘theory’ and range of possible ‘risk sharing’ schemes
- Evaluate scheme options and decide when to use one
- Managing stakeholder relationships
- Implement feasible and cost-effective schemes
For more information about the workshop or to book your place contact below:
Telephone: +44 (0)1480 300300
Facsimile: +44 (0)1480 497970
Email: reception@popewoodhead.com
June
Economic Evaluations in Clinical Trials
Location: Glasgow, UK
Dates 30th June till 2nd July 2010
The Health Economic Appraisals Team (HEAT) at the University of Glasgow, together with researchers in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Centre for Health Economics at Monash University will again run a three day workshop on conducting economic evaluations in clinical trials.
This course will be based around the recently published book ‘Economic Evaluation in Clinical Trials’ by Henry Glick, Jalpa Doshi and colleagues, part of the Handbooks in Health Economic Evaluation series (see: http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198529972)
Lectures and hands-on workshops (using STATA) will cover the basics of economic evaluation (analysis of cost and outcome data) and some of the more advanced issues surrounding cost-effectiveness analysis (uncertainty and heterogeneity).
The course is suitable for people undertaking health economic evaluations in academia, consultancies and industry, as well as those involved in the design and analysis of clinical trials (statisticians and health service researchers).
The course will provide a practical guide to conducting economic evaluations alongside clinical trials. It will cover issues and techniques related to the collection of both cost and outcome data, the analysis of these data, as well as a framework for reporting and interpreting economic reports from clinical trials.
A range of supporting materials, examples, exercises and solutions - including a copy of the book - will be provided to participants.
The cost of the 3 day course is £950 for public/academic, and £1,480 for those from the commercial sector. Fees are fully inclusive of tuition, lunch, course dinner, and course materials but do not include accommodation. VAT is not payable.
More information can be found on the course webpage see: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/healtheconomicappraisalsteam
Further details and booking information are available from Anne Marie McLean: a.m.mclean@clinmed.gla.ac.uk