معرفی
Dr. Sophy Shih is a Senior Research Fellow and Health Economist at the Kirby Institute and the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Prevention (NPESU) at the Centre for Big Data Research in Health, University of New South Wales. With expertise in health economics and economic evaluation, she focuses on infectious disease control, particularly hepatitis C and HIV testing strategies and treatment uptake through point-of-care technology.
Dr. Shih holds a BS, MPH, DrPH, and GradDipEco, reflecting her strong foundation in biomedical science, public health, and economics. Her educational background has equipped her to bridge clinical research with economic analysis to inform health policy decisions.
Dr. Shih's research interests span health economics, economic evaluation, and health service research with a focus on infectious diseases. She specializes in designing and implementing trial-based economic assessments, performing economic evaluations, and building economic models. Her work has addressed viral infections, rare genetic diseases, cancers, diabetes, psycho-oncology, and disability prevention and screening. Currently, her research programs focus on scaling up point-of-care technology for HCV and HIV testing to enhance detection and reduce mortality and morbidity.
Analysis of Dr. Shih's recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on cost-effectiveness analysis of hepatitis C and HIV testing strategies, particularly in high-risk populations. Her work frequently addresses implementation challenges in real-world settings, with a focus on prison populations, men who have sex with men, and people who inject drugs. She has made significant contributions to understanding how to optimize point-of-care testing strategies to achieve hepatitis C elimination goals.
- Elsevier Atlas 2023 award for the theme of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3): Good health and well-being, for her article "Optimizing point-of-care testing strategies for diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C virus infection in Australia: a model-based cost-effectiveness analysis"
Dr. Shih actively supervises PhD candidates, including Huei Jiuan Wu (modeling HCV elimination among gay and bisexual men in Taiwan) and Quang Nguyen (cost-effectiveness of HIV viral load testing in PNG). She serves as a Chief Investigator on multiple major grants, including NHMRC Partnership Grants for hepatitis C elimination in prisons, MRFF grants for point-of-care testing scale-up, and CIHR Project Grants for decentralized testing implementation. Her collaborative approach involves working with multidisciplinary teams across Australia and internationally to address pressing public health challenges.
As a member of the Kirby Institute's Social Epidemiology Research Program (SERP) and NPESU, Dr. Shih contributes to a vibrant research environment focused on evidence-based solutions for infectious disease control. Her work directly informs policy decisions regarding resource allocation for hepatitis C and HIV prevention and treatment programs.
