phuong Bich Tran

Phuong Bich Tran CV- Click Here!

I’m an early-career researcher (ECR) in health economics at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, and honoured to stand for election as the ECR Director (Global North).

I began my health economic career in Vietnam, later pursuing research and study across Asia, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. Having studied/worked in six high-income countries, I’ve built a broad ECR network across the Global North and beyond. These experiences have made me highly adaptive and culturally aware, deepening my appreciation of how diverse perspectives—including those of ECRs—strengthen research and must be included in decision-making.

My research spans policy and methods. My economic evaluation of the COVID-19 booster programme informed UK Government vaccine decisions. I also contribute to developing an AI evaluation framework and a PRISMA extension for economic evaluations with anticipated global uptake.

I serve on IHEA’s Equity-Diversity-Inclusion Promotion and Monitoring Committee, motivated by visa barriers I faced ahead of the 2023 Congress—an experience that inspired my article “It’s That Time of the Year Again: International Conferences and the Struggles of ECRs from LMICs—Even When Based in the Global North”. I’m proud to have used that moment to advocate for fairer access and participation for ECRs worldwide.

At this year’s IHEA Congress in Bali, I spoke at the Women in Economics session, alongside other inspiring colleagues, contributing an ECR perspective. I raised challenges many ECRs face—limited independence within large projects, job insecurity, unclear career paths, and the need for stronger structural support. 

At Oxford, I founded the HERE (Health Economic Researchers of Early Career) Club to build a connected, supportive ECR community through training, journal clubs, and peer-support on fellowships, career pathways, and work-life balance. I also lead several initiatives, such as the Bio-Flipbook (a searchable researcher directory), Newbie Starter Pack, Buddy System, and chaired our PhD Showcase; efforts recognised with the 2025 University of Oxford Recognition Award. 

I also secured the National Institute for Health and Care Research funding to launch the Health Economics Internship Programme within my department, combining training, mentoring, and research experience for undergraduates exploring health economic careers. I supervise/mentor graduate students across UK universities and elsewhere (e.g., Vietnam, Malawi, Canada).

If elected, I will draw on these experiences to ensure that the needs and perspectives of ECRs across the Global North and beyond are reflected in IHEA’s key initiatives and strategic goals (including the ECR Special Interest Group and Mentoring/Fellowship Programmes), informed by surveys/focus groups to co-develop priorities with ECRs. These are likely to include: the strengthening of collaboration and exchange across career stages/regions/expertise, expanding mentorship and peer-support opportunities, and fostering a community built on openness, generosity, and shared learning—one that empowers ECRs to take ownership of their work and careers through greater agency, opportunity, reward, and recognition. Today’s ECRs are the future of health economics. By creating accessible spaces for networking, collaboration, and skills development, IHEA can enable ECRs to play an active role in guiding the field’s direction globally.