David Whitehurst
- Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences
Email: david_whitehurst@sfu.ca
Tel: 778-782-8873
Office: BLU 10504
Education
- Bachelor of Laws: LLB Law and Economics, Keele University
- MSc Health Economics, University of York
- PhD Health Economics, Keele University
Biography
Dr. Whitehurst is a trained economist who has specialized in the areas of health and health care throughout his career. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Professor in June 2012, he has held research positions at the Universities of British Columbia (Postdoctoral Fellow), Birmingham (UK; Research Fellow) and Keele (UK; Research Associate, Research Assistant). Formal training in economics and health economics was undertaken in the UK, at Keele University (PhD, LLB Law & Economics) and the University of York (MSc Health Economics).
Research Interests
As a continuation of his postdoctoral studies, a focus of Dr. Whitehurst’s current research concerns the assessment of quality of life for individuals living with spinal cord injury, with a specific interest in the validation of preference-based outcome measures suitable for use in economic evaluation. The concepts of health state description and valuation, comparability across alternative measures, and the application of economic evaluation techniques alongside clinical intervention studies have been common themes throughout his career. Musculoskeletal conditions provided the clinical context of his UK research, which has resulted in publication in leading international peer-reviewed journals for both methodological (e.g. Medical Decision Making, Value in Health) and applied (e.g. The Lancet, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases) studies. Other research interests include the paradigmatic distinction between clinical and economic evaluation and the incorporation of individual risk attitudes into the current economic evaluation framework.
Teaching Interests
In addition to research, Dr. Whitehurst has a keen interest in teaching the economics of health and health care and has extensive experience as a lecturer, tutor, supervisor and co-ordinator within undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Within the undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Whitehurst will create the first courses dedicated to the economics of health and health care. These courses are scheduled to begin in 2013.
