Dr Lee-Ann Burke is a Lecturer in Economics at University College Cork specialising in applied health economics. She holds a PhD, MA and BA (Joint Honours, Economics and French) from UCC, supported by a Government of Ireland Scholarship from the Irish Research Council. Her research focuses on adolescent mental health, reproductive health, nutrition, and clinical service evaluation, with publications in leading journals including European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, PLOS ONE, Health Economics Review, The Economic and Social Review, and the Irish Journal of Medical Science. She has held major roles on externally funded projects exceeding €13 million, including leading the economic evaluation work packages for the FP7 Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) trial and the Horizon Europe Zero Hidden Hunger consortium.

Dr Burke has held significant academic leadership roles within the School of Economics, including Chair of Examinations and Programme Director for the BA Business & Financial Economics (International Students). She is a founding member and Treasurer of Mná@UCC, supporting equality, visibility and leadership development for women across the University.

She lectures widely across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, delivering modules in macroeconomics, microeconomics, data analysis, health economics, report writing and research communication. Her interdisciplinary teaching experience extends to European Development Studies and executive education for healthcare professionals.

Dr Burke contributes regularly to public scholarship through RTÉ Brainstorm, national radio interviews and engagement with public and community audiences on topics related to economics, health and wellbeing.

Dr Lee-Ann Burke’s research is grounded in applied health economics, with thematic specialisms in adolescent mental health, women’s reproductive health, nutrition, and clinical service evaluation. She served as Lead Health Economist for the European Commission FP7 Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) trial, conducted with the National Suicide Research Foundation and the Karolinska Institute. In this role, she led the multi-country economic evaluation of school-based mental health interventions across 11 European countries.

Her evaluation identified Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) as the most cost-effective intervention within the SEYLE trial. YAM has since been implemented internationally and reached tens of thousands of adolescents worldwide, with Dr Burke’s economic evaluation forming part of the core evidence base informing its uptake and dissemination.

Her broader research interests include mental health inequalities, longitudinal patterns in psychological distress, and the decomposition of mental health measures (such as the GHQ-12) to reveal underlying psychological dimensions. She also contributes to women’s health, examining cost and quality-of-life outcomes in recurrent miscarriage care and investigating the economic burden of fetal scalp stimulation procedures in Irish maternity services.

Dr Burke is currently Work Package Leader for economic evaluation in the Horizon Europe Zero Hidden Hunger consortium, examining the economic burden of micronutrient deficiency and the cost-effectiveness of nutrition interventions across Europe. She also conducts longitudinal microdata analysis using the Growing Up in Ireland study, modelling the intersections of adolescent nutrition, parental labour supply, and wellbeing.

Methodologically, her expertise spans cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-of-illness modelling, microeconometrics, and the integration of economic frameworks into interdisciplinary health and social research.

Dr Lee-Ann Burke has been teaching in the School of Economics since 2005 and has extensive experience across undergraduate, postgraduate, international and executive programmes. She has taught on the BA Economics, Evening BA, MSc Health Economics, MSc Business Economics, Postgraduate Diploma in Health Economics, BComm, BSc Nursing, BSc Finance, and Masters in European Development Studies. Her teaching also includes international delivery at Henan University (China) and executive education for senior healthcare professionals.

She lectures a wide range of subjects including macroeconomics, microeconomics, data analysis, health economics, research methods, communication and report writing, and has redesigned and led core analytical and skills-based modules in the BA Economics programme. Dr Burke is known for her research-informed, active-learning approach, integrating real-world datasets, applied economic analysis, and contemporary policy issues.

Her teaching has been recognised through her shortlisting for the UCC President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2023/24). She has supervised large numbers of undergraduate and postgraduate research projects and plays a key role in enhancing curriculum design, student skills development, and inclusive learning environments. She also founded the BA Economics Alumni LinkedIn Network, supporting student employability and professional development.