Announcing the RAND Professorship of Health Services Research

The Professorship of Health Services Research, a position held by Professor Martin Roland CBE at the University of Cambridge, has been retitled to the RAND Professorship of Health Services Research in recognition of the successful collaboration between the University of Cambridge and RAND Europe to develop a centre of excellence and innovation in health services research in Cambridge.

Roland also serves as special advisor to the president of RAND Europe, which is a not-for-profit research institution based in Cambridge, UK. RAND Europe is part of the larger RAND Corporation, which globally has nearly 300 researchers devoted to health and health care policy.

Hans Pung, president of RAND Europe, said: “The RAND Corporation is proud to be affiliated with the University of Cambridge in this way. Retitling the chair to the RAND Professorship of Health Services Research recognises excellent research conducted to benefit the public. Martin has been an outstanding leader and we are delighted to have RAND formally identified with his achievements over the past five years.”

As the RAND Professor of Health Services Research, Roland provides research leadership in evaluation of health service organisation and delivery, with particular attention to primary care, the interface between primary and secondary care, and patients' experience of health care.

“I sit in a rather special and privileged position of having affiliations with two preeminent health care research groups: the University of Cambridge and RAND, and this name change brings together the two organisations in one title,” Roland said. “I look forward to continuing to develop our vibrant and strong multidisciplinary research groups.”

Related to the university and RAND Europe's collaboration on health services research and policy, the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research (CCHSR) was established in 2009 and is co-directed by Roland and Ellen Nolte, director of RAND Europe's Health and Healthcare Programme. The Centre forms a collection of more than 20 researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds, brought together with the common aim of informing policy through evidence-based research on health services and systems, both in the UK and internationally.

Roland was recognised with a CBE in 2003 for services to medicine. He holds a first-class honours degree and doctorate from Oxford University, with professional qualifications by exam in general practice, specialist medicine and public health. He has been a GP for over 30 years.

ABOUT RAND EUROPE'S HEALTH RESEARCH

RAND Europe is an independent, not-for-profit research institution with offices in Cambridge, UK, and Brussels, Belgium. Its mission is to help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.

RAND Europe's growing health and healthcare portfolio brings together a multidisciplinary team of researchers working in close collaboration with the Health Services Research Group at Cambridge University through the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research (CCHSR) to inform objective policymaking in the health field both in the UK and across Europe.

The research programme concentrates on health systems and health services research in high- and low- income countries and is organised into the following areas:

• Health care policy and governance
• Health care organisation and quality
• Public health and population health assessments

For information on our other wide-ranging research, visit www.rand.org/randeurope.

To learn more about the CCHSR, visit www.cchsr.iph.cam.ac.uk/.