معرفی
Professor Alan Brennan is Professor of Health Economics and Decision Modelling at the School of Medicine and Population Health, University of Sheffield, England. He leads a large team of approximately 35 academic staff at ScHARR (School of Health and Related Research) focused on methodological and applied research using mathematical modeling in health and healthcare. With over 25 years of experience, he has developed and applied modeling approaches to support healthcare decision-making nationally and internationally across various diseases, interventions, and policy issues.
His educational background includes a BSc in Mathematics from Imperial College London and an MSc in Operational Research from the London School of Economics, followed by PhD studies at Sheffield. Before joining the University, he worked in and led the Trent Operational Research Unit within the NHS.
Professor Brennan's research interests center on mathematical modeling approaches to inform decision-making in health and healthcare, with significant contributions in alcohol policy (particularly minimum unit pricing), public health economics, and health technology assessment. He has collaborated extensively with organizations including NICE, NIH, MRC, ESRC, and the EU. His work has influenced government policy on minimum unit pricing for alcohol in multiple countries including the UK, Scotland, Canada, Wales, the EU Commission, and Republic of Ireland.
His publication record shows a consistent focus on health economic modeling, with recent work expanding into areas including dietary policy mechanisms, breast cancer bone health management, dataset interoperability, diabetic foot ulcer risk factors, and cost-effectiveness of screening programs. The research demonstrates a progression toward more sophisticated modeling techniques including agent-based simulation, Bayesian networks, and value of information analysis.
- Regular expert on NICE Scientific Advice Programme panels
- Principal investigator or co-investigator on over 19 research programs and projects
- Contributor to Wellcome Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health Economics and Decision Science
- Developer of MSc Health Economics and Decision Modelling courses
Professor Brennan has established the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group with Professor Meier, becoming a leading international center for alcohol policy and epidemiological modeling research. His team has built a substantial portfolio of work around screening and prevention of diabetes, smoking and alcohol behaviors, and physical activity promotion, all grounded in novel mathematical modeling approaches to support health decision-making.
