Professor Emma Frew PhD, MSc, BA (Hons)

Professor Emma Frew

Department of Applied Health Sciences
NIHR Research Professor
Professor of Health Economics

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)7748141677
Email
e.frew@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@EFrew12
View my research portal
Address
Health Economics Unit
Applied Health Sciences
Public Health Building
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham, B15 2TT

Emma’s research interests are in the Economics of Obesity and the use of health economics methods to generate evidence to support public health decision making.  The application of these methods includes economic evaluation, econometric and decision-analytic modelling methods. 

Emma leads The Centre for Economics of Obesity, a new Centre for using health economics to support obesity policy tackling the wider determinants of disease including the impact of greenspace, transport, retail, schools and workplace.  She works closely with policy and commercial partners and is particularly interested in ensuring the evidence produced aligns with the decision-making needs within public health appreciating the complex systems that obesity policy fits within. 

Qualifications

  • PhD in Health Economics, University of Nottingham, 2003
  • MSc in Health Economics, University of York, 1998
  • BA (Hons) Economics and Marketing, University of Strathclyde, 1997

Biography

Emma is an NIHR Research Professor (awarded 2020) and Professor in Health Economics at the Department of Applied Health Sciences.

Emma studied at The University of Strathclyde for a BA (Hons) in Economics and Marketing (1993-1997) and at The University of York for a MSc Health Economics (1997-1998). She joined the Economics Department, University of Nottingham in 1998 as a Research Assistant and during that time completed a PhD in Health Economics (1999-2003) under the supervision of Professor David Whynes and Dr Jane Wolstenholme.  She joined the University of Birmingham in 2002.  

Following her PhD, Emma was responsible for undertaking reviews of economic evidence as part of the NICE appraisal process and supporting clinical trials with economic evaluation. 

In 2015 she was awarded a personal fellowship as a NIHR Career Development Fellow to work closely with Birmingham City Council Public Health team managing and developing services to help tackle childhood obesity. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2008, Reader in 2016 and Professor in 2019.

Teaching

Teaching activity:

  • MSc Health Economics
  • BA (Hons) Economics
  • Public Health MPH/Diploma/Certificate

Postgraduate supervision

If you are interested in doing a PhD that aligns with Emma’s research interests then please get in touch.

Research

To see Emma present at the Knowledge Translation meeting hosted by the National University Ireland (June 2018)
To see Emma present at the International Health Economics Association main-congress meeting in Boston on her research in childhood obesity (June 2017)

Emma’s research interests are in the Economics of Obesity and the use of health economics methods to generate evidence to support public health decision making.  The application of these methods includes economic evaluation, econometric and decision-analytic modelling methods. 

Emma leads The Centre for Economics of Obesity, a new Centre for using health economics to support obesity policy tackling the wider determinants of disease including the impact of greenspace, transport, retail, schools and workplace.  She works closely with policy and commercial partners and is particularly interested in ensuring the evidence produced aligns with the decision-making needs within public health appreciating the complex systems that obesity policy fits within. 

Emma’s research programme is seeking to answer the following key questions around obesity policy.  Common across all these questions is an understanding of what and how evidence meets public health decision making needs:

  1. What is the economic value of green space?
  2. How can workplaces impact on lifestyle behaviours?
  3. What are the short- and long-term impacts from the National School Food standards?
  4. What is the economic value of interventions within the retail space to improve purchasing habits?
  5. What is the cost-effectiveness of active travel policy?

Other activities

  • Elected Board member, International Health Economics Association (iHEA)
  • Member of Strategic Council All-Party Parliamentary Group on Obesity
  • Committee member, iHEA Student Paper Award
  • Founding member of the iHEA Special Interest Group on Economics of Obesity
  • Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy

Association member:

  • Health Economists’ Study Group (HESG)
  • International Health Economics Association (iHEA)
  • Association of Study of Obesity (ASO)

Editorial board member:

  • International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity
  • Pharmacoeconomics-Open

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Tsermoulas, G, Mollan, SP, Homer, V, Kristunas, C, White, P, Wakerley, BR, Toma, AK, Robertson, F, Berman, G, Ahmed, F, Atan, D, Bandyopadhyay, S, Barton, D, Booth, T, Bremner, F, Denton, A, Downer, J, Edwards, R, Frew, E, Gew, J, Hill, L, Hughes, T, Lax, S, Macdonald, J, Maxwell, G, McHugh, J, Shah, P, Taleti, E, Tasker, R, Thomas, S, Joannides, AJ & Sinclair, A 2026, 'Cerebrospinal fluid shunting or dural venous sinus stenting to preserve vision in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH Intervention): Protocol for an open-label, multicentre, randomised controlled phase IIb trial', BMJ Open.

Afentou, N, Hall, J, Okeke Ogwulu, C, Albon, E, Dretzke, J, Price, M, Clare, K, Singhal, R, Tahrani, A, Moore, D & Frew, E 2026, 'Cost-effectiveness of Endoscopic Bariatric Therapies compared with Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy and Semaglutide', Obesity surgery.

Frew, E, Al-Janabi, H, Battye, F, Gainsbury, S & Smith, R 2026, 'England’s 10 year health plan: aligning hope with economic reality', British Medical Journal, vol. 393, e088964. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2025-088964

Osifowora, B, Nicholas, O, Oppong, R, Kesaite, V, Yau, A, Pokhilenko, I, White, M, Frew, E & The Mandala Consortium 2026, 'Financial accessibility of school meals: evidence from parental willingness to co-pay in the UK', Frontiers in public health, vol. 14, 1839749. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1839749

Sultan, H, Afentou, N, Andrade, LF, Fu, L, Malik, B, Borzadaran, HM, Osifowora, B, Pokhilenko, I, Wride, H & Frew, E 2026, 'Partnerships in Public Health Economics: Reflective Lessons from UK Obesity Research', Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 583-596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-025-01024-0

Jones, C, Osifowora, B, Kesaite, V, Pokhilenko, I, Cummins, S, Loopstra, R, Sawyer, A, Yau, A, White, M & Frew, E 2026, 'Policy options to increase the provision of Free School Meals (FSMs) in England: a qualitative exploration of the challenges of policy implementation through stakeholder interviews', Public Health Nutrition, vol. 29, no. 1, e129. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980026102432

Retzer, A, Adab, P, Fischer, NS, Frew, E, Jones, J, Makahleh, HY, Manna, A, Pallan, M, Pokhilenko, I, Rudge, G, Duff, R, Subdurally-Plon, MI & Jolly, K 2026, 'Stakeholder views on the installation and use of mile long tracks in community parks aimed at increasing physical activity in low-income minority areas: A qualitative evaluation in Birmingham UK', Public Health in Practice, vol. 11, 100758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2026.100758

Osifowora, B, Tran, H, Frew, E & Ananthapvan, J 2026, 'The cost-effectiveness of placement restrictions of unhealthy food and drinks at end of aisles and checkouts in Australian supermarkets', Nutrition Journal, vol. 25, no. 1, 56. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-026-01307-9

Pokhilenko, I, Pallan, M, Murphy, M, Adab, P, Morrison, B, Sitch, A, Adamson, A, Bartington, S, Duff, R, Griffin, T, Hurley, K, Lancashire, E, McLeman, L, Passmore, S, Rowland, M, Ravaghi, V, Spence, S & Frew, E 2025, 'Economic evaluation of the national school food standards across secondary schools in The Midlands, UK (the FUEL study): methodological challenges of undertaking health economics research within non-health settings', The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, vol. 22, 142. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-025-01840-6

Floredin, I, Husbands, S, Hancock, J, Mitchell, PM, Coast, J, Frew, E, Adab, P, Murphy, M, Clarke, J, Pallan, M & Peters, TJ 2025, 'Factors associated with changes in capability-wellbeing for children and young people of secondary school age during the first covid-19 lockdown', Child Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-025-10294-y

Pokhilenko, I, Frew, E, Murphy, M & Pallan, M 2025, 'Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom on adolescent’s time use (CONTRAST study)', PLOS ONE, vol. 20, no. 1, e0310597. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310597

Review article

Albon, E, Afentou, N, Dretzke, J, Hall, J, Ogwulu, CO, Price, M, Clare, K, Singhal, R, Tahrani, A, Frew, E & Moore, D 2025, 'Cost-effectiveness of endoscopic treatments for obesity: a clinical evidence map and systematic review to inform a model-based cost-effectiveness analysis', Health Technology Assessment, vol. 29, no. 68, pp. 1-196. https://doi.org/10.3310/PWKQ2310

de Graef, N, Morris Gouveia, A, Paulus, A, van der Putten, I, Frew, E & Pokhilenko, I 2025, 'Costs of mental health care resource use in people with obesity: A systematic review', PLOS ONE, vol. 20, no. 10, e0333123. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0333123

Parkes, B, Morrish, N, Frew, E, Cornelson, L, Smith, RD & Medina-Lara, A 2025, 'Do the drivers of food choice differ between healthier and less healthy foods? A systematic review of reviews', Nutrition Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuaf202

Fu, L, Pokhilenko, I, van Rens, T, Smith, R, Frew, E & The Mandala Consortium 2025, 'Health economics evidence for food system policy: a systematic review of reviews', Frontiers in Nutrition, vol. 12, 1629814. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2025.1629814

View all publications in research portal