Consortium Sponsors Health Economics Workshop
In response to the need for expanded research capacity in health economics and cancer policy analysis across the island of Ireland, these two areas of scientific inquiry were added to the renewed Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed in Belfast in 2006. Since that time, the All-Ireland National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Consortium has spearheaded a number of initiatives geared towards promoting health economics training and collaborative opportunities for public health professionals on the island of Ireland and in the United States (U.S.).
In 2007, the Consortium sponsored the NCI Health Economics Workshop at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. This workshop served as a forum for identifying specific research topics and developing ideas for pilot programs in health economics. Following this workshop, Queen’s University Belfast organized the Northern Ireland Health Economics Workshop in Belfast, which included presentations in cancer health policy and health system decision-making.
In addition, the Health Research Board (HRB) and the NCI partnered to develop the HRB/NCI Health Economics Fellowships in Cancer Program, under the auspices of the Consortium. This four-year PhD-development program, launched in January 2008, was designed to encourage successful applicants to pursue graduate degrees in health economics. The fellowship includes ten months of coursework in health economics, cancer prevention, and health policy, based mainly in Ireland, followed by two years of mentored research at an NCI-affiliated host institution in the U.S. or the Netherlands and a final year of mentored research at an affiliated host institution in Ireland. In June 2008, the HRB/NCI Health Economics Fellowships in Cancer Program awarded two fellowships to Mr. James O’Mahony and Ms. Rebecca Moore. Two additional fellows, Mr. Diarmuid Coughlan and Ms. Elizabeth Moore, have been selected for the program for 2009.
On 22-23 April 2009, the HRB, the NCI, and the Health and Social Care Research and Development Office collaborated to organize the Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium Workshop in Health Economics in Dublin. The workshop featured a comprehensive program covering the effective use of data sources and the analysis of economic and social trends related to cancer, including discussions on cancer screening and global health policies. The event attracted a wide range of all-Ireland and U.S. health economics and cancer policy experts. During the workshop’s closing session, attendees participated in round table discussions to establish health economic and health policy research priorities and identify areas for potential collaboration among the public health communities in Ireland and the U.S.
For more information on this event, as well as the Consortium’s involvement in various health economics initiatives, visit http://www.allirelandnci.org.