Primary Care & Health Sciences

Sue Jowett qualified with a BSc (Hons) in Geography from the University of Bristol in 1993 and went on to complete an MSc in Applied Meteorology and Climatology at the University of Birmingham in 1995. On gaining her MSc, she had a complete change of discipline and joined the Department of Primary Care and General Practice (now Primary Care Clinical Sciences) at the University of Birmingham in 1995 as a Research Associate and became a Research Fellow in 2001.

In 2004 she moved to the Health Economics Unit at Birmingham, where she continues to work. During her time within the Unit she studied for a PhD in Health Economics which she gained in 2007. In early 2010 she was appointed to a Senior Lecturer position to lead the health economics research within studies undertaken by the Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre at Keele University, as part of a formal collaboration between the Health Economics Unit and Keele. The role is based in Birmingham, but with regular visits to the Keele campus.

Sue’s research expertise lies in the broad area of economic evaluation, both alongside clinical trials and using decision modelling. Much of her applied health economics research to date has been undertaken with Primary Care Clinical Sciences within the College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, where she has worked in the clinical areas of cardiovascular disease prevention, venous thromboembolism and COPD, and is a successful co-applicant on programme grants in all three areas.

Her change in role to oversee Keele’s health economics research has meant a change of clinical condition although still within the broad area of management of chronic disease within primary care. At Keele, she oversees the health economics aspects in over ten trials and cohort studies, and is the lead health economist on research grant applications. She is developing methodological research with Keele in areas such as measurement of productivity costs, data collection on resource use and modelling of interventions within musculoskeletal disease.

• Jowett S, Bryan S, Mant J, Fletcher K, Roalfe A, Fitzmaurice D, Lip GYH, Hobbs FDR. Cost effectiveness of warfarin versus aspirin in patients older than 75 years with atrial fibrillation. Stroke 2011; doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.600767.
• Bryan S, Jowett SM. Hypothetical versus real preferences: results from an opportunistic field experiment. Health Economics Letters 2010: 19(12); 1502-1509.
• Chen Y, Jowett S, Barton P, Malottki K, Hyde C, Gibbs S, Pepke-Zaba J, Fry-Smith A, Roberts J, Moore D. Clinical and cost effectiveness of epoprostenol, iloprost, bosentan, sitaxentan, and sildenafil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension in adults: a systematic review and economic evaluation. Health Technology Assessment 2009: 13(49).
• Honest H, Forbes C, Duree K, Norman G, Duffy S, Tsourapas A, Roberts T, Barton P, Jowett S, Hyde C, Khan K. Screening to prevent pre-term birth - systematic reviews of accuracy and effectiveness literature with economic modelling. Health Technology Assessment 2009: 13(43).
• Jowett SM, Bryan S, Poller L, van den Besselaar AMHP, van der Meer FJM, Palareti G et al. The cost-effectiveness of computer-assisted anticoagulant dosage: results from the European Action on Anticoagulation (EAA) multicentre study. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2009: 7(9); 1482-1490.
• Jowett S, Bryan S, Mahé I, Brieger D, Carlsson J, Kartman B, Nevinson M. A multinational investigation of time and traveling costs in attending anticoagulation clinics. Value in Health 2008: 11(2); 207-212.
• McCahon D, Murray ET, Jowett S, Sandhar HS, Holder RL, Hussain S, O’Donoghue B, Fitzmaurice DA. Patient self management of oral anticoagulation in routine care in the UK. Journal of Clinical Pathology 2007: 60; 1263-1267.
• Connock M, Stevens C, Fry-Smith A, Jowett S, Fitzmaurice D, Moore D, Song F. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different models of managing long-term oral anticoagulation therapy: a systematic review and economic modelling. Health Technology Assessment 2007; 11(38).
• Fitzmaurice DA, Hobbs FDR, Jowett SM, Mant J, Murray E, Raftery J, Bryan S, Davies M, Lip G. Screening for Atrial Fibrillation in the Elderly (SAFE): A randomised controlled trial of opportunistic or total population screening versus routine practice in the detection of atrial fibrillation in patients aged 65 and over. British Medical Journal 2007:335(7616); 383-386.
• Mant J, Fitzmaurice DA, Hobbs FDR, Jowett SM, Murray ET, Holder RL, Davies M, Lip GYH. Accuracy of diagnosing atrial fibrillation on an electrocardiogram (ECG) by primary care practitioners and interpretative diagnostic software – analysis of data from the Screening for Atrial Fibrillation in the Elderly (SAFE) trial. British Medical Journal 2007:335(7616); 380-382.
• Jowett SM, Bryan S, Murray E, McCahon D, Raftery J, Hobbs FDR, Fitzmaurice DA. Patient self-management of anticoagulation therapy: a trial-based cost-effectiveness analysis. British Journal of Haematology 2006:134(6); 632-639.
• Chen Y, Jobanputra P, Barton P, Jowett S, Bryan S, Clark W, Fry-Smith A, Burls A. A systematic review of the effectiveness of adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in adults and an economic evaluation of their cost-effectiveness. Health Technology Assessment 2006; 10(42).

MBChB 3rd year Quantitative Research Methods

MBA (Health Executive)/Diploma in Health Services Management: Health Economics and Management module