Description
This doctoral project focuses on generating robust, policy-relevant evidence on the economic value of psychedelic therapy (PT) across different mental health conditions. While clinical evidence on PT is rapidly expanding, systematic economic evidence remains scarce, limiting informed decision-making regarding its implementation and reimbursement. This project will address this gap by synthesising existing economic evidence, quantifying the impact of PT on quality of life and societal resource use, and assessing its cost-effectiveness compared with standard of care.
Using a combination of systematic review methods, secondary data analysis, and decision-analytic modelling, the doctoral candidate will examine the economic value of PT across different patient groups (e.g. depression, PTSD, addiction), adopting both healthcare and societal perspectives. The work will explicitly consider outcomes for patients and family members, including quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), healthcare utilisation, productivity losses, and informal care. Uncertainty and heterogeneity across indications and contexts will be explored using sensitivity and scenario analyses.
The project will generate novel insights into the economic burden addressed by PT and its potential value for money, contributing to health technology assessment (HTA) and implementation discussions. By embedding health economic methods within a multidisciplinary psychedelic research network, the project aims to support evidence-based, equitable, and sustainable integration of PT into healthcare systems.
Location
Uppsala University, Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences (Uppsala, Sweden)
Supervisors
Dr. Filipa Sampaio (Main supervisor), is Associate Professor of Health Economics, and the head of Uppsala Health Economics (UHE), at Uppsala University. Her work centres on the economic evaluation of preventive and therapeutic interventions in mental health, using both trial-based and decision-analytic modelling approaches to inform real-world decision-making.
Dr. Inna Feldman (Co-supervisor), is Associate Professor of Health Economics, at Uppsala Health Economics (UHE), at Uppsala University. She has over 20 years’ experience evaluating the economic impact of healthcare interventions. She has expertise in health technology assessment, knowledge translation and mobilization, and stakeholder engagement.
Secondments
Institute: University Medical Center Groningen (Groningen, The Netherlands)
Supervisors: Prof. Robert Schoevers / Dr. Joost Breeksema
Purpose: To gain in-depth understanding of clinical trial design, patient populations, outcomes, and real-world implementation of psychedelic therapies.
Institute: Monash University (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)
Supervisors: Prof. Cathy Mihalopoulos, Dr. Mary-Lou Chatterton
Purpose: To validate health economic methods for cost-effectiveness analysis of psychedelic therapies.
General eligibility criteria
- The position is open to candidates of any nationality (European and non-European) who fulfil the requirements set for the Doctoral Candidates (DCs) funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions.
- Applicants must hold a Master’s degree in a relevant academic field, allowing enrolment in a PhD program at the hiring beneficiary.
- Applicants must not previously have been awarded a PhD degree.
- Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country in which the DC project for which they are applying is based for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to recruitment. This excludes short stays such as holidays, compulsory national service or time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention.
- Applicants must be willing to undertake secondments at another institute of the network during the DC project, including at institutes in other countries.
- Applicants must be able to demonstrate their ability to understand and express themselves in both written and spoken English at a level that is sufficiently high to fully benefit from the network training (C1/C2 level).
- Applicants are expected to be motivated to work in the field of psychedelic therapy.
- Applicants are expected to work independently, well-structured and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary consortium.
Additional eligibility criteria
Master’s degree in health economics, economics, public health, medical sciences, or a related field.
Experience with quantitative data analysis and/or economic evaluation.
Familiarity with statistical software (e.g. STATA, R).
Experience with systematic literature reviews.
Interest in mental health, health policy, and economic evaluation.
Ability to work in an international research environment.
Basic Swedish is an asset but not a requirement.