In a first for UBC Okanagan, Health Studies professor and researcher Dr. Craig Mitton has received a Scholar Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR).
Dr. Mitton’s research examines priority setting and resource allocation in health authorities, including the Interior Health Authority, Vancouver Island Health Authority, and Calgary Health Region. He has also conducted research in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
“My research focus is in applying health economics to real-world priority setting activity in health organizations,” says Dr. Mitton. “As resources in health care are limited, decision makers must make choices about what services to fund and what not to fund.”
Questions being explored include how the public should be involved in decision-making, how benefits are best measured, and issues surrounding organizational behaviour.
Through its Career Investigator Award Program, MSFHR supports a limited number of new scholars to develop their research careers in British Columbia. The award provides salary support (to provide teaching release time) for a period of five years as well as an establishment grant.
“The Faculty of Health and Social Development is delighted that Dr. Mitton was successful in obtaining this prestigious award,” said Dr. Joan Bottorff, Dean of Health and Social Development. “This award will enable Dr. Mitton to devote more time to the development of his research program.”
This year, 44 of B.C.’s leading biomedical, clinical, health services and population health researchers received a total of $12.5 million through the Michael Smith Foundation.
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