First MSc Mental Health Economics Advisory Board Meets

3 October 2022

The Board has been designed to ensure that the School of Economics and Finance develops and delivers an innovative programme in our new MSc Mental Health Economics and will ensure the programme will equip students with the skills and tools they need to make a real impact in improving mental health policies and outcomes. The Board will regularly review the programme offering and ensure the School appropriately balances theoretical teaching, industry insights and practical elements.

In their first meeting, they discussed the curriculum outline for the MSc in Mental Health Economics and the needs of the healthcare sector to better equip Mental Health professionals and policy makers to understand the social-economic dimension of mental health issues and to design, implement and evaluate interventions.

The Board includes the following members:

• Francesca Cornaglia, Associate Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the MSc programme
• Scott Cunningham, Professor of Economics at Baylor University
• Silvia Evers, Professor of Public Health Technology Assessment at Maastricht University (UM) and Scientific Director of the Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI)
• Richard Frank, Health Economist and Senior Fellow at USC-Brookings Institute
• Mark Freestone, Reader in Mental Health and Director of Education & Deputy Director of the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Director of Education and Co-Director of the MSc programme
• Martin Knapp, Professor of Health and Social Care Policy at LSE and Director of National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
• Vijaya Nath, Experienced Medical Leadership Specialist and Executive Coach to NHS healthcare professionals from ward to board
• Denise Razzouk, a Psychiatrist, Professor and Researcher on mental health economics and mental health service at Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo (Unifesp)
• Benedetto Saraceno, Secretary General of the Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health (CEDOC/NOVA Medical School, Lisbon)
• Hedinn Unnsteinsson, Senior Policy Analyst for the Prime Minister’s Office in Iceland.

The MSc Mental Health Economics Board will meet twice a year and contribute insights from their range of disciplines and expertise to continually improve and adapt our innovative new programme.

Our interdisciplinary MSc in Mental Health Economics is the first programme of its kind to focus explicitly on Mental Health Economics, delivered jointly by the School of Economics and Finance and the Wolfson Institute of Population Health. If you would like to find out more about the MSc in Mental Health Economics, please visit our MHE Hub.