Ref:MHS-05361 THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT THE FACULTY OF MEDICAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES INSTITUTE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT CENTRE FOR HEALTH ECONOMICS RESEARCH ASSOCIATE/FELLOW 1 The University invites applications for the above post which is available from 6 December 2014 to 5 December 2015. 2 Salary will be 30,434 to 37,394 per annum according to relevant experience. 3 Informal enquiries may be made to Linda Davies Email: linda.davies@manchester.ac.uk 4 Applications should be made on line. If you are unable to apply on line please request an application form by emailing hrservices@manchester.ac.uk quoting the reference number or by calling 0161 275 4499 (HR Services). 5 The University of Manchester values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.
The University Of Manchester The University, centrally located within the largest student campus in Europe, is one of the foremost universities in the UK. It has an annual turnover of nearly 500 million, a staff of over 9,000 and a student population of some 30,000, of whom a quarter will be postgraduates. There are outstanding libraries, excellent computing facilities and supports a museum, an art gallery and a theatre. Manchester is a metropolitan area of three million inhabitants surrounded by some of the most pleasant country in England. Communications are excellent, with a major international airport close to the city centre and rail connections to all parts of the UK. Housing is relatively inexpensive, schools are good and daily travel is straightforward. For general information about the University and The Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences please refer to The University of Manchester s Home Page www.manchester.ac.uk The Faculty Of Medical And Human Sciences The Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences is a major force within the University, with approaching 6,200 full and part time students registered on undergraduate and postgraduate level programmes. It has 1,600 staff and an annual budget of 84 million. The Faculty comprises of 6 professional Schools and 5 Institutes, each of which operate semi-autonomously within the Faculty. The post will be located within the Dermatology Research Centre, Institute for Inflammation & Repair. The Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC) is a Federation of Equal Partners enabled by a Company Limited by Guarantee. The MAHSC Partners are: The University of Manchester; Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust; Salford Primary Care Trust (NHS Salford); Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust; The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and; University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust MAHSC is one of only five DoH designated AHSCs in the UK. The designation is a mark of excellence across research, innovation, education and patient service and recognition of the potential to excel in translational medicine. MAHSC s vision is to be a leading global centre for the delivery of innovative applied health research and education into healthcare. As with other AHSCs, MAHSC has a dual role: to act as a beacon of international excellence for UK plc and to provide leadership and early adoption for our local health system. This will be delivered via a tripartite approach encompassing: research and innovation; education and training and; clinical service. Led by the Director, Professor Ian Jacobs, MAHSC has now moved to phase two of its development in order to position itself for re-designation and future sustainability and is structured around a series of domains to deliver against its strategy: Cancer; Cardiovascular; Human Development; Inflammation & Trauma; Mental Health and; Population Health & Implementation. The Institute of Population Health The Institute of Population Health is one of six new institutes in the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences. These were created to enable the University of Manchester to reach its full potential as an internationally esteemed centre for research and education in medical and human sciences, and to translate that expertise into improved health and wellbeing for people locally, nationally and internationally. The Institute, working in concert with the wider University,
has the breadth of expertise needed to tackle issues of global importance. In common with other institutes and schools in the Faculty, our Institute has a number of high performing research teams which have established national or international reputations in their specialised fields of research. The diversity of this research is a key strength, creating the potential to tackle complex issues of local, national and international significance. There are 3 three broad areas of expertise in the Institute. a) Methodological research b) Health policy and practice c) Population health Health Economics Health Economics is one of the key disciplines underpinning the Institute of Population Health s methodological research. There are 22 health economists (including four Professors) at the University of Manchester. The work of the team is focused on two main themes: Supply and Organisation of health care Valuation and Evaluation of health care programmes Under the Supply and Organisation theme, current topics include: incentives and provider performance. equity in healthcare and geographical resource allocation workforce planning and determinants of labour supply These topics are analysed through the development and application of econometric techniques, use of administrative and survey data and evaluation of healthcare reforms. Under the Valuation and Evaluation theme, research focuses on: measurement and valuation of preferences for benefits of healthcare variations in, and determinants of, healthcare costs and benefits. Under this theme, the emphasis is on causal analysis of complex interventions and complex needs and on less-regulated (mainly diagnostic) services. Currently, the research focuses in two clinical areas: mental health and genetics. The Health Economics team are involved in collaborative research with several local, regional, national and international partners and hold grants from a wide range of research funding bodies. At the University of Manchester, the team have strong relationships with economics, primary care, dentistry, psychiatry, genetics and pharmacy. Job Details This post-holder will be located in the Centre for Health Economics, within the Institute of Population Health and will report to Professor Linda Davies, who is responsible for economic evaluation and valuation in the area of mental health and complex needs. Linda is the principal health economist leading the economics component of a number of prestigious National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) funded projects and programmes. Current examples include:
The NIHR EQUIP programme is a 5 year research programme led by Professor Karina Lovell. The aim is to improve user and carer involvement in care planning in mental health services: develop, evaluate, implement and disseminate a user/carer-led training package for mental health professionals develop and validate an outcome measure to assess improvements in user/carer involvement. assess the clinical and cost effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability of this training through a cluster randomised controlled trial design identify the individual and organisational barriers and facilitators to implementing effective user and carer involvement in care planning Thirty to forty percent of people with treatment resistant schizophrenia have an inadequate response to drug therapy. There is some, limited evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be effective. The FOCUS study (led by Professor Anthony Morrison), funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment stream will evaluate the possible effectiveness and cost effectiveness of CBT added to clozapine with people with psychosis whose symptoms are considered treatment resistant to clozapine. This is a multi centre, randomised, integrated clinical and economic trial. It will recruit 485 participants aged between 16 and 65 who experience persistent symptoms despite an adequate trial of clozapine monotherapy. A Medical Research Council funded project 'Personalised monitoring and enhanced selfmanagement in mental health (CareLoop) led by Professor Shon Lewis. The project aims to explore the acceptability and feasability of real time symptom monitoring using mobile phones for people with serious mental illness. It includes an economic model, to explore the potential economic impact to the NHS and assess uncertainty, with probabilistic one way sensitivity analyses. Evaluating the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of BSL (British Sign Language) IAPT (Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies) led by Professor Alys Young. This research aims to assess whether there are any differences for Deaf people with anxiety and/or depression if they use BSL-IAPT in comparison with Standard IAPT in terms of improvement in mental health, improvement in overall health status and QALYs and whether any improvement is worth any additional cost. The study includes a groundwork phase to develop the evaluation methods and assess feasibility and acceptability of study designs. The second is an evaluation phase. The NIHR PATHWAY programme is a 5 year research programme led by Professor Adrian Wells. The primary aim is to improve access to more effective psychological interventions for the range of heart disease patients attending CR services. Specific objectives for the health economic components are to: Establish evidence of the cost-effectiveness of Group-MCT in a full-scale randomised controlled trial Establish provisional evidence of the cost-effectiveness of Home-MCT in a feasibility RCT.
Key purpose of this post The key purpose of this post will be to develop and implement the economic components of multidisciplinary research projects and programmes, analyse the results and prepare papers for publication in high quality peer reviewed journals. Appointments at the Research Fellow grade will also be expected to make a significant input to developing proposals for new funding and supervision of other research staff. Job Description The role of a Research Associate includes the following aspects: With their supervisor and the research team, develop the research objectives and proposals, prepare detailed protocols to guide implementation of the project, collect and analyse data and prepare draft written reports of the project methods, results and conclusions. Continually update knowledge and understanding in field or specialism. Translate knowledge of advances in the subject area into research activity and apply new research techniques and methods. Use initiative and creativity to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio. Use creativity to analyse and interpret research data and draw conclusions on the outcomes. Contribute to collaborative decision making with colleagues in areas of research. Use a range of media to effectively communicate routine and complex, specialist or technical information. Write or contribute to high quality publications and disseminate research findings using other appropriate media. Present findings at leading academic meetings (nationally and internationally as appropriate) in economics and health services research. Contribute to preparation of funding proposals and applications to external bodies. Contribute to the development of the Centre for Health Economics team at the University of Manchester.
For appointment at Research Fellow level the role will, in addition, include Take lead responsibility for their research and resolve problems of meeting research objectives and deadlines. This includes the planning, co-ordination and implementation of the economic components to ensure that they contribute effectively to the research programmes, in a timely manner. Manage the use of research resources and ensure that effective use is made of them and manage or monitor research budgets as required. Decide on research programmes and methodologies, in collaboration with colleagues and the research team. Assess, interpret and evaluate outcomes of research. Extend, transform and apply knowledge acquired from scholarship to research and appropriate external activities. Develop new concepts and ideas to extend intellectual understanding and develop ideas for application of research outcomes. Identify sources of funding and contribute to the process of securing funds including ideas for generating income and promoting research area. Collaborate actively and effectively within the research teams and the wider NHS/University to complete research projects and advance thinking. Develop productive working relationships with other members of staff and participate in and develop external networks. Specific, project related tasks include: Critically review and develop economic models to synthesise data from several sources and estimate the incremental cost of effectiveness of new or existing health technologies. Design economic data collection tools for use in prospective evaluations of health technologies and preference elicitation surveys. Apply econometric techniques to analyse economic data from prospective clinical and economic evaluations and preference elicitation surveys.
Person Specification Essential Criteria for post at Research Associate level Good first degree (or equivalent) in economics or other relevant subject with a substantial quantitative element Postgraduate qualification (or equivalent experience) in economics/health economics Have sufficient breadth or depth of specialist knowledge in the health economics/economic evaluation discipline, research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes. This includes o design and analysis of preference elicitation and valuation surveys o design and analysis of economic models o design and analysis of economic trial data o ability to explain results of economic analysis and valuation techniques to a nontechnical audience Evidence of contribution to papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals Clear oral and written presentation skills Good time-management and organisational skills Self-motivation to work independently and collaboratively as part of a multi-disciplinary team Ability to contribute to broader management and administrative processes. Ability to assess and organise resources Essential Criteria for post at Research Fellow level In addition to the above, a higher academic standing with a growing reputation in research Possess sufficient breadth or depth of specialist knowledge in health economics and economic evaluation to develop research programmes and methodologies. Demonstrable experience in the o design and analysis of preference elicitation and valuation surveys o design and analysis of economic models o design and analysis of economic trial data Experience of developing research methodologies and devising models, approaches, techniques, critiques and methods. A sustained publication record, to RAE standards. Contribution to a wider range of administrative tasks within the School/Unit e.g. assessment exercises, recruitment, and management of resources.