Professor Deborah Fitzsimmons

Professor Deborah Fitzsimmons

Personal Chair, Public Health

Telephone number

+44 (0) 1792 602226
Office - 213
Second Floor
Vivian Building
Singleton Campus
Available For Postgraduate Supervision

About

I hold a Personal Chair and am the Academic Director of Swansea Centre for Health Economics (SCHE); a thriving research centre based within the School of Health and Social Care, Swansea University. I am also the Co-Director of Health and Care Economics Cymru; one of the Health and Care Research Wales infrastructure groups, which aim to develop world-class research for Wales.

I spent my early career as a clinical and research nurse in oncology/ pancreatic disease; moving into the area of Quality of Life/ Patient Reported Outcome Measurement (PROMs) with a PHD from the University of Southampton in 2000 and obtaining one of the first Post-Doctoral Awards for Nursing and Allied Health Professions in 2002 from the Department of Health. I still remain a registered nurse. Since joining Swansea University in 2004, I developed a broader research portfolio to include health economics and outcomes research.

I remain a very active member of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Group, having been member of the executive committee and inaugural Co- Chair of the Project and Module Development Committee between 2012-2018.

In my spare time, I volunteer my experience as a Trustee of Tenovus Cancer Care.

Areas Of Expertise

  • Patient reported outcome measurement (PROMs)
  • Health Economic Evaluation in HTA
  • Use of qualitative methods in health economics
  • Development of Economic Outcome measures
  • Research and evaluation methods

Career Highlights

Teaching Interests

I have a long track record in UG and PGT teaching and research supervision; supervising over 12 PhD and Professional Doctorate Students to completion. I currently teach on a range of PGT programmes within the School on health economics, PROMs and research and evaluation methods. I also supported Cardiff University in supporting their MPH programme (2015-19) and currently lead the health economics module in the Population Health Intercalated Degree for Medical Students.

I am really enjoy working across a diverse range of health topics but my interests are particularly in relation to cancer and chronic conditions, particularly Asthma, Multiple Sclerosis and Diabetes. I still actively contribute in the design and development of PROMs for use in cancer trials and studies.  

Research Collaborations