Zareen Abbas Khan
Postdoctoral fellow at St. Olavs Hospital
Zareen Abbas Khan is a postdoctoral researcher in health economics at St. Olavs Hospital. She completed her PhD at NTNU in Trondheim. She holds a Master’s degree in Global Health from NTNU and a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research is informed by several years of experience in the health and policy sector in both the US and Pakistan. Her work is driven by a strong interest in how health systems can respond to the dual challenge of an aging population and shortages in health personnel. She is particularly interested in the role of innovative technologies and service redesign in addressing these pressures. As a health economist, she aims to contribute evidence that supports more efficient and sustainable healthcare delivery.
Tell us about your project!
Building on my PhD research, I am advancing the field of health economics by examining the conditions under which digital psychological interventions deliver the greatest value. My work focuses on defining the boundaries of cost-effectiveness across key dimensions, including the time horizon of analysis, the level of human support (self-guided versus therapist-guided), and the healthcare setting, from general population interventions to specialist mental health services.
I am currently leading a trial-based economic evaluation that directly compares guided and self-guided digital treatment among pregnant mothers. I am also conducting a trial-based economic evaluation comparing two self-guided digital treatments among patients referred to specialist mental health services. In parallel, I am developing a model-based economic evaluation to estimate the long-term cost-effectiveness of a digital intervention for preventing perinatal depression. By integrating trial data with evidence from the literature and expert input, this work extends beyond the limits of short-term studies to capture the broader and longer-term implications for patients and health systems.
Together, my research contributes to a more precise and policy-relevant understanding of how digital psychological interventions can be implemented efficiently and at scale within modern healthcare systems.
“Together, my research contributes to a more precise and policy-relevant understanding of how digital psychological interventions can be implemented efficiently and at scale within modern healthcare systems”
— Zareen Abbas Khan on her postdoctoral project “Cost-effectiveness of digital psychological interventions”