About

I’m a Professor of Health Economics at the Centre for the Business and Economics of Health at The University of Queensland. I am also (part-time) Professore Ordinario (Full Professor) at the University of Bologna and Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney. Most of my work is in the field of health economics and the economics of risk and insurance. I’ve also worked in other fields, including education economics and transport economics.

My current research focuses on a number of different health sector problems, including the effectiveness of chronic disease intervention programs to improve health behaviours and outcomes (in collaboration with colleagues at The University of Bologna and the Emilia-Romagna regional health authority, in Italy); the effect of health policy on child health in Australia (with partners at the UQ School of Dentistry and Telethon Kids Institute, UWA); and health outcomes for people with musculoskeletal injuries following motor vehicle crashes (with RECOVER UQ and university partners around Australia). We are also conducting work to plan for Australia’s future health care and health workforce needs under a new Australian Research Council Discovery Project award.

Research interests

Health economics: allocation and distribution of resources within healthcare systems.

Insurance economics: evaluating the health and economic impact of public and private insurance models.

Health services and health outcomes: determining the effectiveness of existing and proposed interventions and models of care on health outcomes and efficiency of the system.

Research impact

My research has influenced national and international policies and strategies, such as the Australian Government Inquiry into the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020, Australian Government Productivity Commission review on Impacts of Medical technology in Australia, and the UK government review of No-Fault Compensation Schemes. My research has also influenced policy from the World Bank and World Health Organization.

I provide consultancy services to industry and government on a range of topics, including health technology assessment. From 2011–2019, I was a member of the Medical Services Advisory Committee Evaluation Sub-Committee (MSAC ESC). MSAC advises the Australian Minister for Health on proposed listings of medical services on the Medicare Benefits Schedule.

Other achievements

I serve on the editorial boards of the European Journal of Health Economics and the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. I’ve also served as guest editor for special issues of several journals, the most recent being a special issue of the Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance. I am also a member of the International Health Economics Association’s Arrow Award Committee, which awards the best paper award for papers published in health economics in honour of Nobel Laureate Professor Kenneth Arrow.

Featured projects

Project titleFunding amountDuration
Centre of Research Excellence in Alcohol and Other Drugs: Sector capacity building for outcome focused, evidence based and cost effective care
NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence
$2.5m2022 - 2027
Centre of Research Excellence: Better Health Outcomes for Compensable Injury
NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence
$2.5m2022 - 2026
Incorporating the gains from healthy ageing into health system planning
ARC Discovery Project
~$300k2022 - 2025
Child Dental Benefit Policies and the Health of Australian Children
ARC Discovery Project
~$250k2020 - 2023
Implementation of a novel clinical pathway of care for common musculoskeletal disorders in primary care (led by the University of Sydney)
NHMRC Project grant
$1.5m2018 - 2022

Contact

If you’d like to discuss my research or opportunities to collaborate, please email me.