September Newsletter

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Congress

Extension of deadline for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) to submit draft abstracts for review and comment

The deadline for early career researchers (ECRs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to submit a draft IHEA Congress abstract has been extended to October 21st, 2022. A team of established health economists will review each abstract and provide detailed feedback on how the abstract can be improved in early November, to allow researchers to finalize and submit their abstracts before the main submission deadline of November 29th, 2022. Abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words and should be submitted along with the application form here.

This support is intended mainly for those who do not have access to senior colleagues at their institution. Those interested in such support should fulfil the following basic criteria:

  • Must have graduated with their highest degree within the last five years;
  • Must be a citizen of, and working or studying in, a LMIC; and
  • The abstract must be on research undertaken in a LMIC.

The African Health Economics and Policy Association (AfHEA) is offering comparable support to African early career researchers and researchers who identify as women. This is a very welcome initiative from a partner regional association, as African researchers are underrepresented at IHEA congresses. Please contact afhea08@gmail.com for more information.

Given the AfHEA initiative, IHEA would particularly encourage ECRs in LMICs outside of Africa to make use of the IHEA support program.

Call for Pre-Congress Session proposals: IHEA 2023 Congress, Cape Town 

A program of pre-congress sessions will take place on Saturday July 8th and Sunday July 9th, 2023 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). The sessions provide an opportunity to take advantage of health economists coming together from around the world. These sessions are organized and coordinated by the person or organization submitting the proposal, after review by IHEA and the Local Organizing Committee. Sessions may be open or closed depending on the nature of the meeting, but should preferably be open for congress delegates to join. 

All rooms will be equipped with a computer, data projector, screen and microphone. Flip charts can be made available on request. A hybrid event is also possible for an additional charge. Rooms with a range of seating capacity are available and sessions can be scheduled for two hours, a half day, or a full day. The cost to session organizers is as presented below. Two-day sessions are also possible; the cost is double that for a single day. Mid-morning and afternoon beverages will be provided for all pre-congress session participants. Participants can purchase lunch at one of the CTICC coffee shops or restaurants. These prices are based on the venue hire, IT support and catering costs associated with holding these sessions. Any surplus generated from the pre-congress sessions will be used to assist in covering the costs of the core congress and to keep registration fees for the congress as low as possible. 

Pre-Congress Session Costs (U.S. Dollars: $USD) 

Venue Capacity 2 Hours Half Day Full Day 
35 1,225 1,750 3,500 
50 1,750 2,500 5,000 
70 2,450 3,500 7,000 
100 3,500 5,000 10,000 
200 N/A 10,000 20,000 

Proposals for pre-congress sessions should be submitted using this online form at any stage before January 16th, 2023; acceptance of proposals may close before that date as available space will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Proposals should provide the following information: 

  • Name, institutional affiliation and contact details of session organizer 
  • Session title 
  • A description of the intended audience for the session 
  • Session length (Two hours, half day or full day, or two-days) 
  • Required room size, preferred seating arrangements and equipment requirements 
  • Preferred session date (Saturday July 8th or Sunday July 9th, noting that scheduling will be done on a first come, first served basis) 
  • Description of session format (e.g. training workshop, mini-conference with open call for peer-review of abstracts, organized session, meeting, etc.) and whether the session will be open to all delegates or by invitation only 
  • Description of the session content (up to 500 words), indicating the aim of the session, a brief description of the content of the session (either the names of presenters and their presentation topics if an organized session, or the topics on which abstracts will be elicited if a mini-conference) and the structure of the session, including how participation from attendees will be promoted 
  • A 50 word overview of the session that will be posted on the Congress website and in the program 
  • Billing details (name, organization and contact details for invoice) 

IHEA encourages pre-congress session organizers to seek sponsorship to cover the costs of their session, rather than charging participants, to facilitate access to these sessions particularly for congress delegates with limited financial resources such as delegates from low- and middle-income countries, students and early career researchers. Sponsors of pre-congress sessions will be listed on the congress website and acknowledged in the session. 

Overviews of accepted sessions will be listed on the congress website, included in informational emails sent to congress participants and the congress program. Session organizers are encouraged to advertise their session through other websites, and listservs. Congress delegates will have an opportunity to register for these sessions in advance. 

Early Career Researcher Pre-Congress Session at the 2023 IHEA Congress in Cape Town

IHEA is pleased to announce a Pre-Congress Session dedicated to Early Career Researchers (ECRs).

This session will be on Saturday July 8th, 2023 and is organized by the ECR Special Interest Group (SIG). ECRs will be able to present their research and receive detailed feedback from their peers and senior researchers in their field. PhD students or scientists who have received their highest degree (Master’s or PhD) in the past seven years (allowing for career interruptions)  are eligible to submit abstracts.

Session Format

  • ECRs will be selected via a competitive process to have their work discussed in the session. The session will be open to all ECRs.
  • Participants will submit a working paper in advance of the session. This should be advanced work in progress, including results.
  • Each paper will have a senior health economist discussant.
  • The discussant will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the paper and make suggestions regarding how the ECR might proceed with this work. This could include advice on journals to target, how the paper could be written for different audiences, how to attract an international audience, or how to improve the odds of acceptance in a leading health economics journal.
  • The conversation will then be opened up to the other ECRs and senior researchers in the room. The emphasis will be on providing constructive feedback.
  • All ECR attendees will benefit from hearing feedback provided by senior health economists (some specific to the submitted paper, and some more general).
  • All ECR attendees will be able to engage with senior health economists during the session and afterwards.
  • There will be a prize for the paper with the greatest potential to contribute to health economics. 

Eligibility and Dates

  • PhD students or scientists who have received their highest degree (Master’s or PhD) in the past seven years are eligible (allowing for career interruptions).
  • Abstract submission will open in October 2022 and will close on Monday December 19th, 2022.
  • Abstracts can be submitted on any topic.
  • Abstracts should be 1,000 – 1,500 words long (text only).
  • Submission of an abstract will not impact eligibility to submit abstracts to the main Congress.
  • ECRs will be notified of decisions in February 2023. Participants must submit full working papers in May 2023.

To submit an abstract, please click here. The deadline is Monday December 19th, 2022.

Call for Nominations for the Student Paper Prize

Deadline: January 13, 2023 

The International Health Economics Association (IHEA) is pleased to invite nominations for the Annual Student Paper Prize in Health Economics. Nominations should include a brief letter of nomination (250 words max) and a copy of the paper (preferably PDF format).  

A student is defined as someone currently studying (full or part time) at a higher education institution, at either Masters or Doctoral level. In addition, students who have completed their studies in the year previous to the announcement qualify as long as the paper was written while registered as a student. Papers can be published or unpublished, but must be in comparable format to a published paper in the Journal of Health Economics or Health Economics, with a maximum length 8,000 words. Self-nomination is acceptable. Papers should be in English. If a submitted paper has more than one author, the student contribution must be at least 75% overall and an accompanying letter must be signed by co-authors to support this, stating the nature of their contribution (conceptualization, analysis, writing etc.). A joint student paper with 50-50 contributions is acceptable. Previous winners are not eligible. Papers will be reviewed by an International Committee chaired by Professor Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir. 

The prize will be complimentary registration for the 2023 IHEA Congress to present the paper in a Student Prize Special Organised Session chaired by the IHEA President, or Chair of the Prize Committee, a cash prize and the offer (if the author wishes, and the paper is unpublished) of potential fast track publication in Health Economics, subject to Editorial approval. The papers in 2nd and 3rd place will receive a small cash prize and free registration for the 2023 IHEA Congress. They will be invited to give brief presentations at the IHEA Congress Student Prize Special Organized Session.  

Please submit nominations, and address queries by email to: ta@hi.is

Mentoring Program

The fourth round of the IHEA mentoring program started at the beginning of September. For the first time, all mentee applicants could be matched with experienced mentors. In total, 69 mentors expressed interest in mentoring early- or mid-career health economists. Since some of the mentors kindly agreed to mentor more than one mentee, 97 mentees could be matched. Apart from the introduction of group mentoring, this round included further innovations like webinars for mentors and mentees prior to the start of the program. These webinars gave an overview of the program, but also provided a platform to ask questions and get insights from experienced mentors. 

The IHEA mentoring program coordinators would like to thank all mentors of this and previous rounds for volunteering their time and supporting the future generations of health economists.  

(A full list of our mentors can be found here.) 

The Mentoring Program Coordination Team: Adriana König, Natalie Carvalho, Neha Batura, Norma Bulamu, Rui Dang, Ou Yang

We Have New Resources on Our Website!

Did you know we have completely revamped our resources and opportunities section on our website?

Now, when you visit our website, you’ll be able to find tons of resources for health economists. We’ve got resources for everyone – learn more about our mentoring program, funding and publication opportunities, browse our EDI resources, or view our University Members training programs!

But don’t just take our word for it—check it out!

Special Interest Group Updates

Health Preference Research

As part of the 15th IHEA World Congress the HPR SIG would like to propose 2 organised sessions:  

  • Methodological Advancements  
  • Novel Empirical Applications  

Each session will consist of 3-4 presentations with discussants. We particularly encourage research that includes more patient/user involvement as well as work led, or in collaboration with, researchers based in the Global South. Submissions from ECRs and PhD students are welcome.  

If you would like to be involved, please submit your title and abstract (maximum 500 words) to Yan Meng (yan.meng2@unimelb.edu.au) and indicate which session it might come under by October 31st, 2022. The conveners will then co-ordinate submitting the organised session. Please note that if an organized session proposal is not accepted on review, papers within that session will NOT automatically be considered for acceptance as individual abstracts – so please submit your abstract separately if you wish. 

We look forward to hearing from you! 

Yan, Fern, Jason, and Matt 

Economics of Genomics and Precision Medicine 

This fall, the Econ-Omics SIG held our first ever annual Symposium, titled “Prioritising genomic medicine: reflections on the role of health economics for changing policy and clinical practice”. Thank you to everyone who helped make this inaugural event a success! 

A recording of the panel discussion is available online and can be accessed on the SIG webpage or directly on the IHEA YouTube channel

We look forward to planning our next Symposium, which will align with the upcoming 2023 IHEA Congress. Abstract submissions are now open for this Congress (Deadline: November 29th, 2022). To assist with the submission of organized session proposals related to the economics of genomics and precision medicine, we will be circulating a short survey to all SIG members in the coming weeks. The aim of this survey is to connect researchers interested in similar topics and facilitate collaborations on abstract submissions. Stay tuned! 

Finally, the SIG currently has vacant Convener positions available, related to Communications and Networking and Organised Conference Sessions. If you are interested in volunteering for a Convenor role, please email us at iheagenomics@gmail.com. 

Upcoming Webinars

Identifying A Research Question 

When: October 5th, 2022 from 9:00-10:00 AM EDT

Description: The Early Career Researchers SIG will be holding a webinar on the topic of identifying a research question at the rescheduled date and time of October 5th, 2022 at 2pm UK time (9am EDT/1pm GMT/12am AEDT).

This webinar will explore how to identify an appropriate research question. Choosing a research question can depend on topic, location, intended audience (universities, government, funders, industry), and whether the research question is for a PhD, or for a grant. Our speakers are from different parts of the world and have experience in conducting research for different audiences. Join us to learn how senior researchers go about identifying an appropriate research question.

Learn more and register by visiting:  

ECR SIG – Identifying a Research Question Webinar

View all upcoming events online here.