Dr Sabrina Lenzen

About

Dr Sabrina Lenzen is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Business and Economics of Health (CBEH) at The University of Queensland. Her research sits at the intersection of health economics, applied microeconometrics, and health policy, with a particular focus on aged care, cognitive function, mental health, and health service planning.

Sabrina's work examines how individuals, families, and health systems navigate the challenges of an ageing population — from the economic costs of dementia care to the physical and mental health trajectories of different generations. Her research has been published in leading journals including JAMA Network Open, Social Science & Medicine, and Journal of Population Economics, and has attracted significant media coverage in outlets such as The Guardian.

She has led and contributed to over $8 million in competitive research funding from the MRFF, NHMRC, and ARC, and serves as Chief Investigator on projects spanning chronic pain, dementia diagnosis, alcohol use in young people, and sensory support for older Australians.

Sabrina teaches Health Economics courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and supervises several PhD and Masters students. She is co-founder and convenor of the Australian Health Economics Society's Special Interest Group on Ageing, Aged Care and Dementia, and has held visiting research fellowships at RWI Leibniz-Institute for Economic Research and the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany.

She holds a PhD in Economics from UQ (Faculty PhD Excellence Award), an MSc in Health Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam (Cum Laude), and a BSc in Health Economics from the University of Cologne (Dean's Award).

Research interests

Applied Econometrics: Applying econometric techniques to large administrative and survey datasets, stuying the impact of health policies on health outcomes and complex real-world problems.

Discrete Choice Modelling (DCE): Utilising experimental designs, stated preference techniques, and choice experiments to estimate the value people place on alternative attributes of health and services in order to understand why people behave in a certain way and to predict future behaviour.

Health Economics: Studying issues related to efficiency, effectiveness, value and behaviour in the production and consumption of health and health care to determine how to improve health outcomes and lifestyle patterns.

Aged Care: Examining the significant reform agenda of the aged care sector in Australia, as well as considering broader policy issues, existing challenges and future implications.

Research impact and partnership

My work has been influential in informing and impacting health policy.

• In an evaluation for the QLD Government, I led the perinatal data analysis of a trial that increased nurse-to-patient ratios in several QLD public hospitals. By applying modern econometric methods to large administrative datasets, I analysed the increase in the midwife-to-woman-and-baby ratios on the midwife experience, maternal health outcomes, and maternity ward operations. Based on my findings, the QLD Government enacted state legislative changes in early 2024, leading to permanent increases in midwife ratios in public hospitals.
• I served as a technical advisor for UQ’s Centre for Health Services Research, reviewing the risk adjustment methodology for quality indicators in the newly implemented residential aged care star ratings. Commissioned by the Department of Health and Aged Care, my contributions informed the final report and policy recommendations.
• I am co-founder and convenor of the special interest group on Aged Care, Ageing and Dementia within the Australian Health Economics Association (AHES) and I work closely with aged care providers on several external grants.

Contact

To find out how we can collaborate and bring value to your organisation, I can be contacted via:
 Email - s.lenzen@uq.edu.au
Connect with Sabrina on LinkedIn or

https://sites.google.com/view/sabrina-lenzen/