Associate Professor Mara Violato
Mara Violato
BSc, MSc, PhD
Associate Professor
- Health Economics Research Centre
- MSc in Global Health Science Module Lead for Health Economics
Mara’s research contributes to two complementary aspects of health economics:
- Investigations of economic-driven inequalities in health outcomes and healthcare utilisation, through the statistical and econometric analysis of large and complex observational survey data and linked healthcare routine datasets, to inform clinical practice and policies to reduce inequity in people’s health and wider adverse economic consequences (e.g. educational attainment; employment patterns).
- Economic evaluations (e.g. cost-effectiveness analysis) of health treatments/healthcare delivery models alongside randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to identify treatments/programmes that represent good value for money in a healthcare system under increasing financial strain.
She is also interested in behavioural economics.
Through NIHR, MRC, and other funding, Mara leads research on the economics of mental health, with a special focus on childhood anxiety. She conducts cost-effectiveness analysis alongside clinical RCTs, econometrics analysis of secondary linked datasets, and leads research on the demand for mental healthcare for children and young people in the REAL Demand Centre. Further research interests include the economics of gastrointestinal disease (including coeliac disease); the economics of vaccine uptake, paying particular attention to health-related quality of life; adult mental health problems; child health inequalities; economic aspects of perinatal and paediatric care; health care utilisation and costs; ethnicity and health; and child respiratory health.
Mara contributes to teaching HERC and NIHR Oxford Health BRC short courses in health economics and supervises MSc and DPhil students. She is a member of the NIHR HSDR funding committee.
She previously worked as research assistant and teaching fellow in Economics at the University of Dundee, and holds a degree in Economics (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice); an MSc in Economics (University of Glasgow); a PhD in Economics (University of Dundee); and a Doctorate in Economics (University of Milano Bicocca).
Recent publications
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Protocol for the process evaluation for a cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating primary school-based screening and intervention delivery for childhood anxiety problems.
Williamson V. et al, (2025), BMJ Open, 15
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Challenging perspectives; understanding the barriers to engaging in an outdoor swimming feasibility randomised controlled trial.
Denton H. et al, (2024), Health Place, 90
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Development of a brief assessment tool to identify children with probable anxiety disorders
REARDON T. et al, (2024), JCPP Advances
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Childhood Transitions Between Weight Status Categories: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.
Onyimadu O. et al, (2024), Pharmacoeconomics
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Digitally augmented, parent-led CBT versus treatment as usual for child anxiety problems in child mental health services in England and Northern Ireland: a pragmatic, non-inferiority, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness randomised controlled trial.
Creswell C. et al, (2024), Lancet Psychiatry