Deborah Schofield

Deborah Schofield is the Professor and Chair of Health Economics at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre and School of Public Health at the University of Sydney.

Background

Schofield was born in 1965 in Wahroonga, Sydney. She has worked for the Australian Government, in academia and clinical practice and is notable for establishing the health microsimulation modelling program at the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling. The methods for modelling public health expenditure which she established are now used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Prior to joining the University of Sydney, Schofield worked for a decade in senior government roles where she led the development of major new policies, continues to inform her academic career.

Education

Professor Schofield began her career with a Bachelor of Speech Therapy from the University of Queensland in 1986, which she followed up with Graduate Diploma in Computing Science from the University of Canberra in 1993 and finally graduated with a PhD in Mathematics-economic modelling in 2000, also from the University of Canberra.

Research

Schofield's research includes assessments of the productivity impacts of illness and she currently leads a research program at the University of Sydney on the relationship between health and social policy where health has impacts across multiple government agencies. The new applications of microsimulation Schofield pioneered helps to ensure health care funding is sustainable and labour force participation is maximised. This assists governments providing the information needed by policymakers who impact health, the labour market, income and taxation policy. The purpose of her research is to ensure that the health and aged care systems meet the demands of an ageing population. It uses data drawn from her own work, other studies and publicly available datasets in areas as diverse as IQ deficits caused by anaemia in pregnancy, poverty and mental illness, genetic testing for highly disabling childhood genetic disorders, chronic pain and whole genome sequencing.