Bio: Tom P. Marshall, a 2003-04 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is a is a lecturer in public health in the department of public health and epidemiology of the University of Birmingham. His responsibilities include undergraduate (medical student) teaching and postgraduate education, and research. Marshall's research interests include prevention of cardiovascular disease in primary care, communication of risks to patients and quality monitoring and improvement. He currently holds a Medical Research Council grant to investigate patient preferences for treatments to prevent CHD. Marshall holds degrees in medicine and public health from the University of Edinburgh and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and is accredited in general practice and public health. He is in the process of completing his Ph.D. at the University of Birmingham.
Placement: Harvard University
Mentors: David Bates, M.D., M.Sc.; Thomas Lee, M.D., M.Sc.
Project: Analysis of the Implications of National CVD Prevention Policies in Five Countries
Description: Marshall's project estimated the resource costs and health consequences of applying differing national cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention policies on a standard population, using the same standard assumptions about costs and benefits of assessment and treatment. He considered three treatments--aspirin, antihypertensive treatment, and statins--and guidelines from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S. The numbers of persons eligible for treatment, total costs (assessment and treatment), and benefits (CVD events prevented) were determined over a five-year timeframe.