Prof Virginia Wiseman
Professor of Health Economics
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom
I began working as a health economist with LSHTM in 2001 and since that time have worked primarily on economic evaluation, equity, economics of malaria and health care financing in low and middle income countries. Prior to coming to the school I worked in a health economics research unit at The University of Sydney, Australia where I collaborated on a range of health economics projects focusing on indigenous health care financing and priority setting in health care. I am currently based in Sydney and have a joint position as Professor of Health Economics at the Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales. I am a current recipient of an Investigator Grant/Fellowship from the Australian National Health & Medical Research Council.
Affiliations
Centres
Teaching
I enjoy teaching and in particular developing bespoke training programmes in health economics. Between 2008 and 2018, Lorna Guinness, Anne Mills and I ran a short course in health care financing for UNICEF that consisted of an 8 week online course and a 2 week face to face workshop in London. I regularly design and deliver other short courses in health economics for the UK Department for International Development and Australian Aid (Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). Lorna Guinness and I are co-editors of 'Introduction to Health Economics' - a textbook widely used for health economics teaching globally, as well as for distance learning and face to face teaching at LSHTM.
Research
My research centres on the design and evaluation of interventions to answer questions about how to deliver and finance treatment to disadvantaged populations under ‘real-world’ conditions. My strategy is to bring together empirical research tools widely used in economics and the social sciences with the operational realities of policy implementation to assess the impact of interventions targeting the poor.
My research focuses on 2 key topics. The first is the evaluation of complex health interventions. I have led large scale randomised trials, cost-effectiveness analyses and process evaluations of complex interventions to support the introduction and scale-up of new diagnostic technologies for malaria, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in Low and Middle Income Countries. Having previously led such studies in sub Saharan Africa, I have in recent years built a strong research programme in the Asia-Pacific where I currently lead or co-lead 8 projects including the recently funded PINTAR project (Protecting antibiotics) in Indonesia that aims to develop and evaluate interventions to improve the use of antibiotics in the private sector (community pharmacies and drug stores). My other area of research is health systems financing. Health economics has a major role to play in addressing the burden of disease amongst the poor by ensuring equity in health care financing. Our studies typically use the quantitative techniques of financing and benefit incidence analysis to inform policy decisions on the best mix of financing mechanisms for strengthening health systems in the Asia-Pacific. This is complemented by qualitative investigations of the context and process of implementing financing reforms. I currently lead studies evaluating financing reforms to support universal health coverage and financial protection in Cambodia and Indonesia.
I also spend quite a bit of time as joint editor-in-chief of Health Policy & Planning, one of the leading journals in health systems and policy research in the world and housed at the LSHTM. Please check out our latest articles, blogs and podcasts here! https://academic.oup.com/heapol