Use of Real-World Evidence in Health Technology Assessment for Multimorbidity at Swansea University

Funding providers: Health Data Research UK

Subject areas: Population Data Science

Project start date: 

• 1 October 2023 (Enrolment open from mid-September)

Project description: 

Healthcare decision-making has previously focussed on developing recommendations for single conditions. However, standardised care for each chronic condition in isolation can be inappropriate for individuals living with multiple long-term conditions known as multimorbidity, and may lead to unnecessary polypharmacy. This PhD studentship aims to develop a modelling framework to estimate the natural history of disease in individuals living with multimorbidity using population-scale, linked, electronic health records from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank Wales Multimorbidity e-Cohort (Lyons et al, 2021). This approach will allow estimation of the potential adverse effects (such as hospitalisations) of drug-on-drug interactions for the treatment of multiple conditions and associated genetic, environmental, or demographic risk factors. Further this PhD project will compare the efficacy of different combinations of treatments used in multimorbid populations, and assess potential health inequalities.   

Eligibility

Candidates will need an MSc in Statistics/Biostatistics or Epidemiology/Health Data Science (with a strong analytical component) plus programming and data analysis skills/experience in R and/or Python.

English Language requirements: If applicable – IELTS 6.5 overall (with at least 6.5 in each individual component) or Swansea recognised equivalent.  

Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is open to applicants eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK rate only, as defined by UKCISA regulations. 

Funding Details

This scholarship covers the full cost of UK tuition fees and an annual stipend of £18,622.

Additional research expenses will also be available.