Inaugural Lecture - Professor Kara Hanson: Bringing discipline to the field - an economist’s perspective on health systems

Inaugural lecture by Kara Hanson, 24 February 2016.

Kara Hanson is Professor of Health System Economics and Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Public Health and Policy.

Professor Hanson reflects on her career from her formative experiences as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow in Swaziland to a PhD at Harvard and joining the School in 1997. She examines the socio-economic and regional inequalities in access to effective health interventions, shows how market interventions have improved access to bednets and antimalarials, and explores how progressive taxation and public/private co-payment models can strengthen health systems.

Professor Dame Anne Mills introduces the lecture. She said: "I have worked extremely closely with Kara over many years. She has worked on the economics of malaria, on the private sector and on health systems. As you'd expect, she has a stellar grants and publications record, and has been engaged at promoting impact, for example her evaluation of the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria was one of our highest ranked REF impact case studies. Kara's very high quality teaching is extremely popular with students."