On February 8^th, Prof Ulf Nehrbass, CEO of the LIH, and Prof Aline Muller, CEO of the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) met at the LIH premises in Strassen to sign the framework agreement stipulating the creation of the joint Socio-Economic and Environmental Health and Health Services (CARES) research group.

The LIH and the LISER have created the inter-institutional CARES research group with the aim of increasing research synergies between the two institutes towards the advancement of scientific knowledge in the areas of health economics, health services research, public health, and environmental health.

Organised within the LIH Department of Precision Health (DoPH), CARES will stimulate and facilitate joint research projects, including but not limited to: the study of the impact of the socio-economic, natural and physical environments on health, health system performance, and socio-economic consequences regarding health. CARES will also organise joint events and seminars.

The CARES group team is jointly led by Dr Maria Ruiz-Castell, Group Leader and Research Scientist from the DoPH, and Prof Marc Suhrcke, Program Leader of the cross-departmental Research Programme on ‘Health and Health Systems’ at the LISER. The team also currently includes a Research Scientist, Dr Valerie Moran, who has a joint position between the two institutes. The CARES group is open to collaborations with researchers in both institutes with complementary research interests.

“We are proud and honoured to be leading the activities of this newly-founded research group, which leverages the LISER’s complementary expertise in socio-economic research and the LIH’s experience in healthcare. We therefore warmly encourage interested researchers to join our growing team”, comments Dr Ruiz-Castell.