Elena is a Senior Health Economics. She holds a PhD in Economics and Management from Padua University, a Master degree in Economics and Management of Health Care Services from Ferrara University and a first degree in Economics from Padua University.
Prior to coming to UCL she was a Research Associate at the Imperial College Business School, working on the economic evaluation of the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) for Northwest London.
She previously held a research post at the Department of Economics, Ferrara University, where she collaborated to a multi-year research project and undertook an economic evaluation of a Regional Colorectal Cancer Screening Program.
The end of any year sees a number of “best of” charts published and research is no exception!
We’re delighted to report that a paper produced by the CLAHRC’s Dr Werner Leber and Professor Chris Griffiths and others is 2017’s most downloaded in The Lancet HIV. Dr Werner ‘s groundbreaking work represents the first time a model to explore the cost effectiveness of screening for HIV in primary care has been applied to the UK.
The work generated great media interest (below) and offers a model to measure cost-effectiveness for commissioners and providers of HIV care.
Read the paper:
Cost-effectiveness of screening for HIV in primary care: a health economics modelling analysis
Baggaley, Rebecca F et al.
The Lancet HIV , Volume 4 , Issue 10 , e465 – e474
Our friends and colleagues at Barts Health NHS Trust are hosting some great new free training for researchers interested in involving patients and the public in their work.
New dates for 2018 have been added to this annual series of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) workshops for researchers, funded by the Wellcome Trust, supported by UCLP and hosted by Barts Health and QMUL.
‘How to write the PPI section of a grant form’ will take place 24 January (1.30pm-4.30pm) at Charterhouse Square
and
‘Meaningful PPI? How was it for you?’ will take place 29 January (1pm-4pm) in Whitechapel.
CLAHRC Director Professor Rosalind Raine has been invited to be part of a major new independent inquiry considering the future of the NHS.
Professor Raine joins the Future of the NHS Commissionwhich launched on November 30th and is organised by the London School of Economics and The Lancet. It will investigate and report on options for relieving the growing pressures on the system and ensuring that the service has governance, care, operating, and funding models fit-for-purpose in the 21st Century.
CLAHRC Director Rosalind Raine is Professor of Health Care Evaluation and the Head of the Department of Applied Health Research at UCL, as well as being an NIHR Senior Investigator
Professor Raine will draw on her expertise in evaluations of NHS interventions and research experience in inequalities in the distribution of health care, its causes, impact on health inequalities and policy responses. She has long advised national, international and regional policy makers, her research being highly valued due to its diversity (spans acute & chronic conditions and all NHS settings), representativeness (national datasets, long time periods) and applied nature, allowing direct policy translation.
Calls for a rational, considered view of the NHS have come from across the political spectrum (see below) and the Commission will draw on a range of views and perspectives in its work. In April 2017 The Lancet argued that “An independent inquiry is needed to bring together clinical and policy experts, and the voices of the public and patients, to answer the question: what sort of NHS do we want and need in 2020, 2025, and 2030?”
Brian Turley Awards for Patient and Carer Involvement Collaboration for Leadership and Applied Health Research and Care Programmes in London
Based at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, the PREPARE team, is a programme for patients undergoing oesophago-gastric surgery that aims to improve their surgical outcomes by improving their physical and mental well-being prior to and after their surgery. Each patient receives a personalised programme to match their individual needs, abilities and goals.
The programme provides coaching and tailored support in the areas of:
Physical fitness
Respiratory exercises
Eating well
Psychological wellbeing
Asking about medications
Removing bad habits
Enhancing recovery
The team involved patients at all stages of their programme to prepare patients undergoing oesophago-gastric surgery
Patients are involved at a strategic level in the development of the PREPARE programme, working with the clinical team to co-design the structure and goals through formal workshops and informal interactions.
An example of meaningful outcomes from patient involvement include the creation of a training clinic 1-2 weeks prior to surgery to teach patients and their carers on home jejunostomy feeds. This replaced post-surgery in-hospital training which patients described as too intimidating and did not involve carers. Patients’ views have also contributed plans to develop a PREPARE centre where the whole programme can be delivered and patients can benefit from peer-to-peer support.
On announcing the award winners the judges said: “This is a superb example of integrated, meaningful, well planned patient involvement which is central to the project. While PPI is often an added afterthought to projects, collaboration with patients is at the heart of PREPARE”
The PREPARE team worked with artist Sandra Howgate to produce this image describing their work
