Dr Mark Monahan B.Comm, MSc, FHEA, PhD

• PGCHE, University of Birmingham, 2025
• PhD in Health Economics , University of Birmingham, 2024
• MSc in Health Economics, University of Galway, 2013
• BComm International Experience, University of Galway, 2012

After completing an MSc in Health Economics at the University of Galway, he joined the Health Economics Unit at the University of Birmingham in November 2013 on a six month Research Associate post. Mark has been part of the department ever since and has also worked as a Research Fellow before being appointed Lecturer in Health Economics in 2022.

Mark is the Health Economics Advisor at the NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) Hub delivered by the University of Birmingham and Partners. In this role, he provides advice on the design of health economic components of research projects submitted for funding to national competitions.

Mark is a module co-lead for the Undergraduate Health Economics module delivered in partnership with Birmingham Business School. He has previously co-led the Modelling in Health Economics MSc module, and the MPH Health Economics module. Mark has supervised 31 MSc dissertations and been a Personal Academic tutor to 27 MSc students so far. Mark is the Academic Integrity Officer for the MSc Health Economics and Health Policy and the MSc Health Economics and Econometrics programmes, and an academic appeals university committee member. He was awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (distinction) in 2025.

Mark was previously affiliated with the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery where he provided health economic input to the global surgery programme. Mark undertook a PhD alongside his job which examined the economic rationale of investing in interventions to reduce wound infection after surgery using primary and secondary research sources within an iterative economic modelling framework. His PhD supervisors were Professor Tracy Roberts, Professor Sue Jowett and Professor Tom Pinkney.

Postgraduate

• Modelling for Health Economics (module code 22346);
• Introduction to Health Economics (module code 02957);
• Economic Evaluation in health care (module code 07860);
• Research methods in health economics (module code 39677);
• Health Economics (module code 08157);
• Economic Models and Human Genomics (module code 27603);

Undergraduate

• Health Economics (module code 33158);
• MBChB Year 2 Health Services

Current Doctoral supervision

• Ayesha Iqbal: Health economics of maternal and infant health interventions: methodologies and economic evaluations. Lead supervisor with Professor Tracy Roberts (co-supervisor). Started May 2025 (Part-time)

Past supervision

• Nadiath Chowdery.NIHR pre-doctoral fellowship: 10/2024-10/2025. Co-supervisor with Professor Sue Jowett (lead).

Mark is interested in supervising doctoral research related to the following topics:

• Model-based economic evaluations
• Aspects of economic evaluation in surgical diseases
• Health State Valuation for use in economic evaluations
• The economics of Task-shifting

Mark’s main research interests include economic evaluation in high blood pressure, women’s health, surgery, and task-shifting, respectively. In terms of methodology, Mark is interested in decision models with capacity constraints and workforce modelling.

Mark is supervising Research Fellows delivering the health economic components for the APT-SEPSIS (MR/V005782/1), LOCI (NIHR 17/116/01), Epi-Safe (NIHR204156), LORIS (NIHR 11/36/16), Hidden costs of hospital discharge (NIHR School for Social Care Research) studies. He is also plus providing oversight on the health economics work packages for the ROSSINI-Platform (NIHR163832), STARFISH (NIHR131528), COBALT (NIHR160696), PANORAMA (NIHR165210), and the UNITY (NIHR135258) studies. Mark is advising on the Health Economics components for a Birmingham 125th Anniversary Fellow’s NIHR advanced Fellowship (Dr Sarah Hillman).

Through Mark’s work on economic evaluations applied in different clinical areas, the cost-effectiveness findings have informed national and international guidelines and clinical societies. Mark’s first publication, assessing the costs and benefits of iodine supplementation tablets for UK pregnant women, garnered national and internal press coverage (e.g. The Times, New Scientist, BBC news). He was invited to speak on the research findings to an All-Party Parliamentary Group, a cross-party group of MPs, in the Palace of Westminster in 2018.

Grant Activity

• Co-investigator: Hidden Costs of Hospital Discharge: Understanding the costs and outcomes associated with Hospital Discharge from the perspective of people, carers and local authorities. NIHR School for Social Care Research (2025-2027). £248,478
• Co-investigator: Developing a prototype toolkit for the practical and effective evaluation of the integrated care delivered by neighbourhood multi-disciplinary teams for children and young people. NIHR research for patient benefit; (2025-2027).  NIHR209258. £112,320
• Co-investigator: ROSSINI-Platform - a 'Basket Factorial MAMS' Platform Trial in Surgical Site Infection; (2025-2029). NIHR163832. NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme. £10,248,705
• Co-investigator: oPtimising post-dischArge care pathways after acute paNcreatitis: evaluatiOn of health seRvice utilisAtion, outcoMes (PANORAMA). NIHR HSDR Programme. NIHR165210 (2025-2028) £967,840
• Co-investigator: Comparing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of COlesevelam for Bile Acid diarrhoea with colestyramine or Loperamide, including long Term follow-up (COBALT). NIHR160696. (2025-2029) NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme. £1,847,925.
• Co-investigator: ROSSINI-Platform - Reduction Of Surgical Site Infection with a platform trial utilising a 'Basket-MAMS' design; NIHR156728; (2022). NIHR Application Accelerator Award. £163,268.
• Principal Investigator: Remote Health State Valuations to help inform resource allocation decisions (2021), Preliminary Data Award, Research Development Fund, University of Birmingham. £1,450
• Co-investigator: Reinforcement of Closure of Stoma Site- 5 to 8 year extended follow-up; NIHR202011; (2020-2021). NIHR Research for Patient Benefit. £149,871.

Mark helped form the NIHR Health Economics Network for Global Health. The motivation for the Network is to share learning, discuss and explore common challenges with regard to methods required and strategies to address the challenges of conducting applied health economics evaluation in Global Health. Health Economists from thirteen NIHR global health groups and units are represented in the network. Mark was an organiser of the inaugural face to face meeting in Birmingham early 2020 and he coordinated a successful organisation of the second meeting (virtual) with academics in LSTHM in March 2021.