EU Funds Doctoral Network on Health, Policy, and Inequality

Martin Karlsson at the University of Duisburg-Essen is leading HEPARD (Health Economic Policy Analysis with Real-World Data), a new international doctoral network funded with nearly €3.6 million by the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions program. Over the next four years, twelve PhD researchers will explore why opportunities for a long and healthy life in Europe still depend heavily on income, education, and location.

HEPARD brings together experts across economics, epidemiology, public health, and data science to analyze how national health policies, interventions—such as sugar taxes or nutritional counseling—family circumstances, and healthcare financing shape health outcomes. Partner institutions include Tilburg University (Netherlands), University of Oslo (Norway), Uppsala University (Sweden), UBB Cluj (Romania), and RWI-Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (Germany).

The network aims to deepen understanding of health inequalities in Europe while providing rigorous training for a new generation of researchers at the intersection of economics, health, and policy.