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September 22, 2008
Research Assistant/Research Fellow in Health Economics: Opportunities for a researcher and a PhD studentship at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Location: London, England, UK
Closing date: 22nd September 2008
An enthusiastic researcher with strong quantitative skills is required to work in the area of economic evaluation. The post is to work on an ESRC funded study:
‘Methods to reduce selection bias in health economic evaluation’
This post provides an excellent opportunity to be involved with highly topical, methodological work at a London-based university that has a large programme of work in health economics, and provides a highly supportive environment for junior health economists.
Applicants must have an MSc in Health Economics or a related discipline (e.g. Medical Statistics) with a health economics component. The ideal candidate will have experience of using statistical techniques to analyse cost and cost-effectiveness data. For an appointment at the level of Research Fellow, the applicant is expected to already have peer reviewed publications.
The post holder will work on a series of case studies of interventions in intensive care of national and international significance. The post holder will work under the guidance of the Principle Investigator (Richard Grieve) and in close collaboration other health economists, econometricians, medical statisticians and clinicians, based at LSHTM and the University of California (Berkeley).
This post is available immediately, for three years. The salary will be on either Academic Pathway 5 or 6 in the range of £30,757- £33,518 per annum inclusive, depending on qualifications and experience. For further particulars and an application form, please contact The Personnel Office, LSHTM, (telephone 020 7927 2203 (24 hour answer phone) or e-mail personnel@lshtm.ac.uk), quoting reference RG02. Only applications in the format outlined in the recruitment pack will be considered. Closing date for applications is 22nd September 2008. The London School o f Hygiene & Tropical Medicines is committed to being an equal opportunities employer
ESRC funded PhD studentship
One studentship is available in the Health Services Research Unit within the Department of Public Health & Policy. This studentship covers a 3-year doctoral (PhD) programme in this internationally renowned, research-based institution to start October, 2008
The Candidate
The ideal candidate will have a Masters degree with a strong quantitative component in statistics, economics (e.g. health economics), or econometrics, a good practical awareness of implementing statistical methods, and excellent writing skills. The preferred candidate will also have a strong interest in developing and applying statistical methods for evaluating health care programmes.
The PhD Project
‘Methods to reduce selection bias in health economic evaluation’
Economic evaluations often use observational data where the major concern is selection bias. Traditional methods for dealing with this bias suffer from important limitations, and can lead to misleading inferences for policy-making. The project will examine a novel non-parametric technique (Genetic Matching) that makes more appropriate assumptions. While Genetic Matching has been tested on a single dataset in labour economics, this research will further examine the technique using a series of health economic evaluations. The case studies are primarily from a developed country context (mainly the UK, and US) and include evaluations of clinical and public health interventions. This context offers an excellent opportunity to compare estimates from high-quality observational studies with those from pragmatic RCTs. This research will provide rigorous evidence on the technique’s merits, which can ultimately help evaluations provide a stronger basis for policy-making. The PhD thesis will be undertaken within a larger project funded by ESRC/NIHR which involves collaboration with colleagues at Universities of California, Harvard and MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge.
Supervisors and Environment
The project will be supervised by Dr Richard Grieve (senior lecturer in health economics). The successful applicant will also be able to draw on expert guidance from senior colleagues with expertise in statistics (Dr James Carpenter) and econometrics (Prof Jas Sekhon, University of California, Berkeley). As part of the studentship, the applicant will receive advanced statistical training, for example by taking study modules from the highly regarded Master course in Medical Statistics, at LSHTM. LSHTM provides a highly supportive environment for Research Degree study, and has a strong tradition for providing training for PhD students and junior health economists.
Award
The studentship will cover full tuition fees at Home/EU level as well as a maintenance grant of £17,940 (inclusive of London Weighting) per year, for three years.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must have been ordinarily resident in the UK throughout the 3-year period immediately preceding the date of the award. Full award is available to UK residents only; other EU nationals may receive awards which cover tuition fees only. Please check your eligibility requirements on the ESRC website before applying.
How to Apply
Applicants should submit a complete application for Research degree study. Research (MPhil/PhD) Application forms. Please ensure that you indicate on your application form that you wish to be considered for this award and enclose an outline of the proposed PhD topic of up to 3 pages.
Deadline for Applications
The deadline for receipt of complete applications under this scheme is 22nd September, 2008.
Further Details
Informal enquiries regarding the project can be made directly to Dr Richard Grieve (richard.grieve@lshtm.ac.uk). Further guidance on making an application can be found by visiting the How to Apply pages of the School’s website http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/prospectus/howto/, or by e-mailing Registry registry@lshtm.ac.uk
