A scientific focus on health economics is the natural outcome of the combination of a strong personal interest and an educational and professional background in both medicine
as well as the economic sciences.

Major areas of interest include

• Theoretical foundations of health economics;
• Issues related to the financing of health care, including the rational allocation of limited resources;
• Economic evaluation of health care interventions;
• Research into underlying epidemiology, utilization, quality and cost of health care programs;
• Pharmaceutical economics.

Currently, a focus has emerged on a number of therapeutic areas, including gastrointestinal disorders, cancer (oncology), and central nervous system / mental health (notably Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD - cf. also P&P: Presentations & Publications).

More specifically, in the field of ADHD research, currently one major effort is dedicated to set up, jointly with Professor Franz Resch and colleagues from the University of Heidelberg, a longitudinal research project ("VEGA") designed to improve our understanding of the long-term outcomes of ADHD in relation to disease severity, comorbidity, and therapeutic pathways. By summer 2005, development was completed of study protocol and data collection forms, and the latter have meanwhile been tested and refined in a feasibility study conducted in close cooperation with patient advocacy groups.

Aditional projects related to ADHD are underway on "real-world" diagnostic prevalence, comorbidity, resource use, quality of therapy, and costs associated with the disorder in children, adolescents, and adults. A further area of scientific interest is the cost-effectiveness of clinically proven therapeutic interventions for ADHD.

Thesis students and collaborators will find project specific information and data for download here.

In 2005, InnoValHC,an independent not-for-profit research institute was founded to provide a platform for pursuing these areas of scientific interest.