Welcome to my academic website!
I am a health economics PhD candidate at the Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management in Rotterdam and hold a master degree in health economics (University of Bayreuth and UNC Chapel Hill). I am also part of a European PhD training network (Improving Quality of Care in Europe), and am funded through a Marie-Curie fellowship, awarded by the European Commission.
In my doctorate, I am applying economic and statistical tools, including applied econometrics, health economic modelling, and discrete choice experiments, to conduct research on topics surrounding tools to inform the efficient allocation of health care resources. This especially includes eliciting preferences on the importance of different (health-related) quality of life dimensions and obtaining societal monetary valuations of health and well-being gains. Further research interests include the measurement of well-being, fair pricing of pharmaceuticals, and patient and provider preferences in mental health care.
Download my resumé.
Interests
- Health and well-being
- Applied health economics and econometrics
- Health preference research
Education
M.Sc. in Health Economics, 2016
University of Bayreuth, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.Sc. in Health Economics, 2013
University of Bayreuth
Projects
Master thesis
Recent Publications
Estimating an anchored utility tariff for the well-being of older people measure (WOOP) for the Netherlands
This paper reports on a DCE developed to create a utility tariff for the WOOP well-being measure.
Do Profit Margins of Pharmaceuticals Influence Reimbursement Decisions? A Discrete Choice Experiment Among Dutch Healthcare Decision Makers
Electronic health interventions especially for mental health may more and more provide valuable treatment possibilities. This paper attempted to measure preferences in the general German population and mental health users towards different attributes of potential electronic heath interventions, finding that blended care formats (i.e. a combination in-person and electronic means) would be most preferred.
Did the COVID-19 pandemic change the willingness to pay for an early warning system for infectious diseases in Europe?
This paper tries to answer the question on how much European citizens would be willing to pay for an early warning system for infectious diseases and how this changed with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Preferences of psychotherapists for blended care in Germany: a discrete choice experiment
A DCE was fielded among German psychotherapists with the aim to provide insights concerning the preferences towards blended care (digital + traditional) formats.
Preferences for e-Mental Health Interventions in Germany: A Discrete Choice Experiment
Electronic health interventions especially for mental health may more and more provide valuable treatment possibilities. This paper attempted to measure preferences in the general German population and mental health users towards different attributes of potential electronic heath interventions, finding that blended care formats (i.e. a combination in-person and electronic means) would be most preferred.
What works better for preference elicitation among older people? Cognitive burden of discrete choice experiment and case 2 best-worst scaling in an online setting
As a pre-study for generating population weights for a nine-dimensional well-being instrument among the eldery, we examined which type of choice experiment is less cognitively burdensome to survey respondents.
Estimating the monetary value of health and capability well‑being applying the well‑being valuation approach
We used a dataset originally collected for a different purpose to estimate the monetary value of health and capability well-being based on the well-being valuation approach.
Happy with Your Capabilities? Valuing ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A States Based on Experienced Utility Using Subjective Well-Being Data
In this first paper of my PhD project, we used an alternatve approach to estimate utility weights for two capability well-being instruments (ICECAP-A and ICECAP-O).
Willingness to pay for an early warning system for infectious diseases
This paper tries to answer the question on how much European citizens would be willing to pay for an early warning system for infectious diseases. It was part of the COMPARE project and unfortunately is now way more topcial then anticipated when the study was conducted.
The societal impact of a biologic treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: a case study based on secukinumab
In this project, we quantified the societal economic impact of the use of a novel biologic treatment for ankolysing spondylitis in Germany.
The societal impact of obinutuzumab in the first-line treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma in Germany
This study quantifies the productivity gains associated with the use of obinutuzumab in follicular lymphoma patients, including gains in paid work and in unpaid work
A case study applying a novel approach to estimate the social impact of a medical innovation - the use of secukinumab for psoriatic arthritis in Germany
We estimated the societal impact of the use of a biologic treatment for psoriatic arthritis in Germany for the years 2016 to 2030.
Long-term health benefits of stroke prevention with apixaban versus vitamin K antagonist warfarin in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation in Germany: a population-based modelling study
In this project, we aggregated the societal health effects of the use of a novel anticoagulant in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Experience
PhD candidate
Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management
Research Associate
WifOR GmbH
Responsibilities include:
- Estmatiing productivity effects of pharmaceuticals
- Adaptation and creation of decision models
- Drafting research reports and publications
Skills & Software
Lighthouse studio
Survey design
Stata
Statistical Software
R and RStudio
Statistical Software
Statistics & Econometrics
Data visualisation
Discrete choice modelling
Contact
- himmler@eshpm.eur.nl
- Bayle Buildiing, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, 3062PA