Education

BCHT PROGRAMS

We believe in life-long learning and offer meaningful, interactive experiences for graduate students and professional audiences, targeted at the intersection of innovation and affordability

--Kimberly MacPherson, Co-Director

Educational Opportunities for Students

BCHT is a research and educational institution affiliated with the Berkeley School of Public Health . We facilitate educational opportunities for Berkeley graduate students from a variety of disciplines including Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Public Policy (MPP) and Master of Business (MBA). BCHT does not currently have opportunities available for undergraduate students.

BCHT engages with students in a number of ways including:

  • Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) employment opportunities
  • Connect students to internships, career positions, and high-visibility fellowships with sponsor organizations.
  • Formal courses taught by affiliated faculty on topics related to health economics, business strategy, finance, and the development, coverage and payment mechanisms for biomedical technologies.

Featured faculty courses include:

  • Kimberly MacPherson
    • PH 223C: Health Care Strategy
    • PH 223D: Foundations of Health Policy and Management
    • PH 227A: Health Care Finance
    • PH 297:   PH Field Study
    • MBA 297A: Healthcare in the 21st Century
    • MBA 296: Trends in BioTech/Pharma
    • MBA 296: Unlocking Digital Health Innovation
  • James Robinson
    • PH 200J: Health Policy and Management Breadth Course
    • PH 222A: Health Care Technology Policy
    • PH 223E: Capstone Course in Health Policy and Management
    • PH 226A: Health Economics
  • Tim Brown
    • PH 231A: Analytic Methods for Health Policy and Management
  • Nonaffiliated BCHT recommended courses
    • PH 236: US FDA Drug, PH and Health Policy (Veronica Miller)
    • MBA 297C: Health Care Ventures (Jeff Rideout & Lisa Suennen)
    • MBA 296: Life Sciences Marketing (Jeffery Ford)

Educational Opportunities for Professionals

The Berkeley Center for Health Technology focuses on research related to innovative pricing models, biopharmaceuticals, implantable medical devices and insurance benefit design. We seek to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of health care through research and education on the development, insurance coverage, payment, and appropriate use of medical technologies. Toward this goal the BCHT affiliated faculty offer a number of opportunities for professional institutions.

Services include:

  • One-day workshops on timely topics related to development, coverage, payment, and use of biomedical technologies
  • Lectures and interactive sessions at industry conferences, board retreats, and continuing medical education programs.
  • Customized professional education programs for sponsoring organizations, with the option of hosting on the UC Berkeley campus.

For more information contact Kimberly MacPherson, BCHT Co-Director. For examples of recent presentations by our faculty please visit the Presentations page. 

Genentech Flex Intern Program

BCHT partners with Genentech to offer an innovative extended internship for UC Berkeley graduate students. This internship enables students to gain deeper experience in biotech by working on longer, more robust projects. Students transition between full-time and part-time internships over the year, blending the internship work with academic courses on campus.

How to Apply

We know you're busy juggling classes, exams, recruiting events, and planning for winter holidays, so we appreciate your taking the time to learn more about this opportunity and to stay connected. The Genentech mission is to do now what patients need next.

Genentech is so much more than just a science company, prides itself in a culture of innovation, creativity, and inclusion. If you were unable to attend the BCHT Internship Webinar, please review a recording of the session below. We also encourage you to review our application resources, project description, and application timeline.

Please visit again for details about the 2019-2020 internship.

Candidates may reach out with any questions to:

2018-2019 Interns

    • Tia Gangopadhyay- 1st year MPH
    • Neha Jain- 1st year MBA MPH
    • Marion Robine- 1st year MBA

Featured Student Profiles

BCHT offers several opportunities for Masters and Doctorate students to work on research projects each semester, and partners with Genentech to offer an innovative extended internship. 

STUDENT PROFILES

Muriel LaMois (2018-2019) - BCHT Graduate Student Reseracher

Prior to coming to Berkeley, I worked in state politics in Virginia and more recently as a project manager at a health policy think tank. While at BCHT my research covered a variety of topics related to health technology topics for pharmaceuticals and medical devices including coverage and reimbursement, provider payment, product pricing, funding R&D, FDA market authorization, and intellectual property law. Working as a student researcher at BCHT helped me build a depth of knowledge in an interesting and pertinent topic, and gave me a new lens to pursue my interests and career goals working in the U.S. health care system. Some of the most valuable experiences I took away from my time at BHCT were not just the chance to deep dive into interesting research areas, but also the doors it opened to connect with exciting organizations and stakeholders. 

Zack Mar - 2018 Genentech Internship Selection

Before the BCHT Genentech internship, I worked in hospital administration with UCSF and as a practice manager for private clinics. While at Genentech, my work focused on optimizing product value and access for patients by working with brand and account teams to develop pricing, contracting, and distribution strategies. Most of my time was spent partnering cross functionally to execute and refresh strategies for the oncology, immunology, and ophthalmology portfolio. Prior to my internship experience, I planned on continuing work in hospital administration. Now, I am excited to pursue a career in health technology and want to focus on the biotechnology and digital health sectors. Based on my positive experience in health technology, I decided to complete my Master's capstone project with Proteus Digital Health. My project focuses on refining the commercialization strategy for a product offering in Proteus' portfolio. 

Shriya Jain (2019) - BCHT Volunteer

I am currently a rising senior at San Mateo High School in San Mateo, California and founder and CEO of my social enterprise, Empower Future Foundation, whose mission is to help provide a primary education to underprivileged children around the world. I chose to research precision medicine in order to understand how healthcare can be delivered more effectively in a cost-efficient manner so that it is more accessible and affordable to patients. I aspire to pursue a professional career in social entrepreneurship and expand my social enterprise to help provide an education to more children around the world.

The regulation, pricing, and appropriate use of innovative health care technologies is a global endeavor, with valuable lessons to be obtained by cross-national comparisons.

--James Robinson, Director

BCHT Visiting Scholars

Our work at BCHT is enriched by the presence of doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars from other nations, who sit in on classes and collaborate on research initiatives, offering their insights from health systems elsewhere and deepening their familiarity with the system in the United States.

2019-20

 Quentin Jarrion

Quentin Jarrion is a M.D. resident in Preventive Medicine at University of Champagne-Ardennes / University Hospital of Reims in France. He has a Master Degree in Health Economics from Paris-Dauphine. Prior to his year as Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, he worked for Eli Lilly in the pricing, reimbursement and access department in Paris, and as consultant for Medlink/Ayming on the optimization of the payment model for hospitals.

Quentin has a wide range of interests within public health including innovation's access to patients, pharmaceutical pricing, and the different payment models for hospitals. With BCHT, Quentin works on the French Healthcare System and biosimilars pricing process.

 Miklos Weszl

Miklos Weszl is a Medical Device Regulatory Expert & Health Economist in Budapest, Hungary. He has taught at Corvinus University of Budapest, Department of Health Economics, and was a Medical Device Expert & Lead Auditor, National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (Notified Body, EMKI), Hungary.

While at UC Berkeley, he worked on the development of future research projects concerning the impact of the changing regulatory environment on the innovation, access to, and affordability of medical devices in the European Union and the United States. He attended health economics courses for a semester at UC Berkeley to become better acquainted with the health care system of the United States of America. 

 2018

 Fabian Berkemeier

Fabian Berkemeier is Director, Value & Access Strategy at IGES Institut GmbH, Berlin Area, Germany.  While a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, he conducted research for his PhD on reimbursement mechanisms for health technologies. He previously held positions as Senior Consultant HTA & Value Strategy, Consultant HTA & Value Strategy, and Scientific researcher pharmaceutical market atIGES Institut GmbH.

2017 

 Patricia Ex

Patricia Ex is Managing Director at Bundesverband Managed Care (German Managed Care Association), Berlin, Germany. While a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, she conducted research for her PhD on reimbursement mechanisms for health technologies at TU BerlinShe previously held positions of Research Assistant, Deutscher Bundestag; Senior Consultant, WMP HealthCare; and Head of Capital City Office, Berufsverband der Deutschen Urologen.