As a continuation of his postdoctoral studies, a focus of Dr. Whitehurst’s current research concerns the assessment of quality of life for individuals living with spinal cord injury, with a specific interest in the validation of preference-based outcome measures suitable for use in economic evaluation. The concepts of health state description and valuation, comparability across alternative measures, and the application of economic evaluation techniques alongside clinical intervention studies have been common themes throughout his career. Musculoskeletal conditions provided the clinical context of his UK research, which has resulted in publication in leading international peer-reviewed journals for both methodological (e.g. Medical Decision Making, Value in Health) and applied (e.g. The Lancet, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases) studies. Other research interests include the paradigmatic distinction between clinical and economic evaluation and the incorporation of individual risk attitudes into the current economic evaluation framework.
