Kirsten Howard

Professor Kirsten Howard, BSc (Hons 1), MAppSc (Biopharm), MPH, MHlthEc, PhD, is Professor of Health Economics in the Sydney School of Public Health within the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. She earned her PhD in Health Economics from the University of Sydney in 2007. With more than 30 years of experience in health economics and health policy research, Professor Howard currently serves as Co-Director of the Leeder Centre for Health Policy, Economics and Data. She has significantly contributed to building the health economics discipline at the University of Sydney, expanding the team from a single research fellow to 11 academics and PhD students, and supervising over a dozen PhD completions. Earlier in her career at the University, she held positions as Senior Lecturer in Health Economics from 2005 to 2010 and Research Fellow in Health Economics in the School of Public Health.

Professor Howard's academic interests and research specializations encompass methodological and applied health economics, with a particular focus on patient and consumer preferences, quality of life and wellbeing measurement, economic evaluations, discrete choice experiments, and Markov modeling. Her work addresses key areas such as chronic kidney disease, transplantation, organ donation, falls prevention, public health interventions, and the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and youth. Recognized as an internationally acknowledged leader in health economics, she was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS). Her scholarly impact is evidenced by 488 publications and over 16,800 citations. Key publications include 'Supported implementation of tailored hospital fall prevention interventions: a protocol for the PROTECT stepped wedge type I hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial' (2026), 'Drawing Wellbeing: findings from an art-based exploration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children' (2026), 'Social value of a Childhood QALY - Revealed preferences from pharmaceutical funding decisions in Australia 2005–2023' (2026), 'Wellbeing Ways: Protocol for Assessing and Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students’ Wellbeing in Queensland Secondary Schools' (2026), 'Patient and nurse trainer perspectives on a structured PD training programme: A process evaluation of the TEACH-PD feasibility trial' (2026), and 'Implementing Patient Navigation for Children with Chronic Kidney Disease' (2025).

Professional Email: kirsten.howard@sydney.edu.au