Brayan Seixas
Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree?
The true answer might sound cliche, but I cannot lie: because I have always wanted to be an academic. I have been involved with scientific research over the last ten years. My first co-authored international peer-reviewed scientific paper was published when I was 18 years old. Initially, I wanted to be a researcher of basic biomedical sciences, but while enrolled in pharmacy school I fell in love for the field of public health. I found in this area the chance of combining my formal training of biomedical sciences with my passion for and knowledge of social sciences. Pursuing a MSc and a PhD represents the pathway towards my dream career.
Why did you decide to study at UBC?
UBC has great resources for graduate students, outstanding faculty members and is located in a beautiful city with a mild weather. Briefly speaking, I found here all the important elements to successfully pursue a graduate degree: terrific quality of life, very supportive institutional structures and a strong and respected program.
What is it specifically, that your program offers, that attracted you?
The most important aspect for me was the chance to study health economics in a department with a diversified and internationally renowned faculty body.
What was the best surprise about UBC or life in Vancouver?
When I chose UBC, I already knew that it offers a fantastic amount of resources to graduate students. Yet, UBC keeps surprising me in this regard. Frequent events on career development, extracurricular activities, training workshops, well-being programs, etc. It is really impressive to see all existing initiatives.
What do you see as your biggest challenge(s) in your future career?
There are two significantly big challenges I envision for my future career. The first is related to my profile as a researcher. Because I devote much time to study different fields, from sociology to neuroscience to economics, I naturally think and see the world in broad terms. Thus, my perspectives on scientific projects are normally interdisciplinary. In this sense, developing and conducting projects that demand collaboration among people with different academic backgrounds is quite challenging. The second challenge, certainly the most critical one, is related to the nature/place of the academic work in public policy. Profound social transformations of our times, such as the decreasing power of the nation-state, the crisis of representative democracy, the dissemination of fake news, the discredit of experts, etc., they are reshaping the role and the importance of scientists in the political sphere. Furthermore, changes in the market place (like the so-called end of jobs phenomenon) and in the educational domain (like the expansion of online programs and degrees), have impacted on the structure and function of universities. In this scenario, what will be the social role of academia in twenty or thirty years? And what will be the actual work of individual researchers? The challenge then will be not only figuring out our professional scope and boundaries, but be constantly reinventing the profession itself.
The program has offered me a strong foundational knowledge in the field of public health and a rich overview of current and future challenges of health care.
What aspects of your life or career before now have best prepared you for your UBC graduate program?
Throughout my academic life I have devoted much of myself to a polymath pathway. I have taken courses and degrees in different areas and have worked in diverse settings. This multidisciplinary experience has helped me to navigate the program, succeeding in courses that demand strong mathematical skills, such as statistics, as well as courses that demand more discursive skills, such as qualitative methods in health research.
What do you like to do for fun or relaxation?
When I am not working, I am almost certainly playing guitar or reading/writing literature.
What advice do you have for new graduate students?
Be open to all opportunities offered at UBC. Use the time at graduate school as a moment to have new experiences rather than becoming a super-specialized expert. Don't get too focused on coursework. Widen your horizon, get to know student projects taking place all across campus, check out initiatives taking place in other departments, and get involved with some volunteering programs.
Learn more about Brayan's research
My current research efforts could be briefly summarized as the pursuit of value in health care systems. By value here, I refer to the definition offered by Michael Porter, i.e., health outcomes achieved per dollar spent.
This broad endeavor currently comprises of three main initiatives:
- Strategies of priority-setting and resource allocation (description of existing practices; development and improvement of novel approaches; PBMA exercices; etc.)
- Disinvestment/Reassessment of low-value health technologies (understanding of previous experiences of active and passive disinvestment; development of frameworks; impact evaluation)
- Value assessment frameworks (mapping of approaches to assess value; evaluation of existing frameworks; evidence synthesis for recommendations; etc.)
For my master's thesis, I am conducting an online qualitative survey with decisionmakers and health economics researchers from high-income countries aiming to map existing practices of decisionmaking in priority-setting and resource allocation in their publicly-funded health care systems. Setting priorities for investments is an inevitable challenge for virtually every organization. In the realm of health care systems, in particular, the ever-increasing pressures on expenditures, mostly due to aging populations and the development of costly novel technologies, has made it more and more clear that determining priorities represents a central aspect for efficient resource management. Thus, there has been a call for formal, explicit and consistent strategies of priority-setting in health care systems all across the globe. However, although much work has been produced in this field in a prescriptive manner, there is still a gap in the literature regarding the existing processes of decisionmaking. My thesis project then has the objective of understanding how these decisions are currently made, what is the rationale applied, what are the stakeholders involved, what types of evidence are taken into consideration, etc. Apart from providing an important contribution to the scientific field of priority-setting, this work will allow decisionmakers and researchers to learn from undocumented experiences and understand new avenues for research.
