Email: victoria.brown@deakin.edu.au
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/vicki-brown-36773786
I am an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow of Deakin Health Economics (DHE) within the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University.
Deakin Health Economics is one of the largest academic health economics teams in Australia. As a Senior Research Fellow I contribute to DHE’s research program by leading the economics streams of a number of research projects, as well as to the delivery of the Masters of Health Economics as Unit Chair of HSH766-Economics and Health Policy Analysis.
As a health economist, I’m responsible for conducting the economic evaluation of INFANT, under the guidance of Alfred Deakin Professor Marj Moodie. This involves undertaking a cost-effectiveness analysis, to see whether INFANT represents ‘good value for money’. On a day-to-day basis, this means that I spend time speaking with INFANT team members and those delivering INFANT in practice, to understand the resources that are being used in INFANT implementation and delivery so that I can use this information to assess value for money.
My research focuses on building the economic evidence for obesity prevention, and I have a particular interest in the childhood years and better understanding the cost-effectiveness of obesity prevention interventions delivered at scale. Given society’s scarce resources, there is a real need for effective and cost-effective interventions that set our kids on positive health trajectories as they grow into adults.
I enjoy the challenge of conducting an economic evaluation of an intervention that is happening in the ‘real world’. While this adds extra layers of complexity in terms of tracking the costs and benefits of INFANT, the knowledge that will be gained from the economic evaluation will be so useful in informing policy and practice. It is an honour and a pleasure to work with the INFANT team – I am very fortunate to be guided by Alfred Deakin Professor Marj Moodie in the conduct of the economic evaluation, and to work with an exceptional group of cross-disciplinary INFANT researchers.
As a health economist, I will continue building the economic evidence and hope that this evidence is used in resource allocation and priority-setting, policy and practice.
Learn more about our team members here