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Research Training Group

Managerial and economic dimensions of health care quality

The Research Training Group “Managerial and economic dimensions of health care quality” is a structured PhD program in health economics funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Mitglieder des Graduiertenkollegs

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Managerial and economic dimensions of health care quality

thema

Photo: HCHE

The Research Training Group (RTG) is a structured doctoral program in the field of health economics funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). As part of the DFG Research Training Group, doctoral candidates from the fields of business administration, economics, health economics, or closely related disciplines are investigating cause-and-effect relationships to enable the management of quality in the healthcare system. This research utilizes very large datasets that have only recently become available.

Overview

DFG

Photo: DFG

Per Cohort 12 PhD students plus 8 associated PhDs (start 1st Cohort: October 2023; start 2nd Cohort: April 2026)

Structured training programme

Focus: How (economic) incentives influence quality of care

Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Director: Prof. Dr. Tom Stargardt

Coordination: Andrea Bükow

Research stays 2025-2026

Doctoral students in the Research Training Group can spend several months abroad working on their research topics in collaboration with international health economists.

Stefanos Boudouroglou-Walter

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Stanford (USA)

Stefanos Boudouroglou-Walter was a visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Health Inequality Lab, hosted by Prof. Marcella Alsan, Annie and Ned Lamont Professor of International Studies. The research focused on evaluating the impact of prescribing guidelines on the treatment of psoriasis.

(April - June 2026)

Lara Lenz

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Vancouver (Canada)

Lara Lenz was a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Together with Prof. David Kealy from the Department of Psychiatry, she worked on her projects regarding patient preferences in the care of mental health conditions.

(April - July 2026)

Michael Möller

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Seattle (USA)

Michael Möller was at the University of Washington in Seattle. At the Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy, and Economics (CHOICE) Institute, he conducted research on integrated health care with Prof. Noémi Kreif. The focus was on estimating heterogeneous treatment effects using causal methods and machine learning.

(April – June 2026)

Robert Wittram

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Stockholm (Sweden)

Robert Wittram was at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. He spent his time there in the Health Economics and Economic Evaluation Group under the supervision of Prof. Niklas Zethraeus. His work focused on the economic modeling of early detection of pancreatic cancer.

(April - July 2026)

Jan Berendsen

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Rotterdam (Netherlands)

Jan Berendsen was at Erasmus University Rotterdam for a research visit. He was invited by Prof. Dr. Robert Dur as part of an ongoing research collaboration on the factors that contribute to a meaningful life.

(March 2026)

Malte Scheebaum

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Paris (France)

Malte Scheebaum was at ESCP Business School in Paris, France. The visit took place in collaboration with Associate Professor Wanda Mimra from the Department of Law, Economics, and Humanities. The research focused on modeling equilibria in health insurance markets.

(February - March 2026)

Lasse Falk

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Milan (Italy)

Lasse Falk was at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan and worked on his paper together with Prof. Dr. Oriana Ciani.

(January & March 2026)

Lena Imhof

Photo: privat

Cape Town (South Africa)

Lena Imhof was a visiting scholar at the School of Public Health at the University of Cape Town under the supervision of Dr. Lucy Cunnama. While there, she worked on a research project focusing on continuity of care in cardiology.

(January - February 2026)

Beke Hester

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Sheffield (UK)

Beke Hester visited the School of Medicine and Population Health at the University of Sheffield in England. While there, she presented her research project, “Development of a Patient-Benefit-Index for Patients with Post-COVID (PBI-PoCO),” and exchanged ideas with researchers from the Health Outcomes Research group.

(October 2025)

Research stays 2024-2025

Doctoral students in the Research Training Group can spend several months abroad working on their research topics in collaboration with international health economists.

Sophia Cordes

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Cambridge (Harvard, USA)

Sophia Cordes was a visiting PhD student at the Harvard Health Systems Innovation Lab. As part of her PhD project on the diffusion of (digital) innovations in healthcare, she deepened her knowledge on-site and broadened her perspective through interdisciplinary exchanges at the lab.

(October - December 2025)

Patricia Vester

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Vienna (Austria)

Patricia Vester visited Dr. Susanne Mayer at the Department of Health Economics (DHE) at the Medical University of Vienna. The focus was on presenting her research on the “Economic Burden of ME/CFS” and engaging in professional discussions on health economics issues and ongoing research projects.

(October - November 2025)

Julius Herzig

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

San Diego (USA)

Julius Herzig was a visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego, working with Suhas Vijaykumar, Assistant Professor of Economics. There, he worked on his research project, which focused on the proportion of people who benefit from interventions in randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

(September - December 2025)

Janice Schönfeld

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Calgary (Canada)

Janice Schönfeld was at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary in Canada. She worked on her project on the health insurance market in North America in the Insurance & Risk Management department headed by Prof. Dr. Anne Kleffner.

(September - November 2025)

Malin Hüllemann

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

St. Gallen (Switzerland)

Malin Hüllemann spent her research fellowship at the University of St. Gallen in the Department of Healthcare Management. There, she collaborated with the “Value in Healthcare” research group (led by Dr. David Ehlig). She participated in the research seminar and received feedback on her own work.

(September 2025)

Lea Bullenkamp

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Lyon (France)

Lea conducted research at GATE (Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique) in Lyon. While there, she collaborated with Research Professor Izabela Jelovac. She also had the opportunity to present her research project as part of a research seminar and to participate in a doctoral course.

(March - May 2025)

Julia von Hanxleden

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Kyoto (Japan)

During her stay at Kyoto University, Julia von Hanxleden worked with Prof. Yuichi Imanaka of the Department of Healthcare Economics and Quality Management and presented her experiment on the relationship between intrinsic motivation, altruism, and quality under various compensation systems.

(March – June 2025)

Benedikt Langenbeck

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Sydney (Australia)

Benedikt Langenbeck conducted research at the Macquarie University Center for the Health Economy in Sydney under the supervision of Prof. Yuanyuan Gu. While there, he presented the findings of his project, “Impact of Surgical Experience on the Quality of Care: Learning-by-Doing in Cardiac Surgery.”

(February - May 2025)

Isadora Mathevet

Photo: HCHE, Claudia Höhne

Leuven (Belgium)

Isadora Mathevet conducted research at KU Leuven in Belgium. There, she collaborated with Associate Professor Edoardo Ciscato on the paper “In sickness and in health: The role of assortative matching in spousal health dynamics.”

(January - February 2025)

Carolin Brinkmann

Photo: privat

Rotterdam (Netherlands)

For the final project of her dissertation, Carolin Brinkmann visited the Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management in Rotterdam. The project compares two theories of well-being in terms of their impact on health policy decision-making.

(August & October 2024)

Contact

Andrea Bükow

Managing Director
Esplanade 36, Room 4025
20354 Hamburg

Tel.: +49 40 2395-29515
E-Mail: andrea.buekow@uni-hamburg.de