Dr Jan Boehnke

I am a Reader at the University of Dundee, based in the School of Health Sciences within the Faculty of Health. My research sits at the interface of evaluation science, psychometrics and intervention research methodology, with the overarching aim of improving how health interventions are designed and evaluated. I use quantitative methods to strengthen the evidence underpinning healthcare, public health and social care, while ensuring that methodological advances remain applicable to real-world evaluation, service improvement and evidence-informed decision-making.

My work spans the full evaluation lifecycle, from the design of observational studies and pragmatic and explanatory trials through the development of outcome measures and statistical analysis strategies to the interpretation and reporting of intervention effects. A particular focus of my research is on patient-reported outcomes and modern psychometric methods, alongside methodological developments in trial design, core outcome set development, response shift, and reporting standards. Rather than developing methods for a single discipline or clinical area, I seek methodological approaches that are robust, transferable and useful across diverse areas of health and related research.

Throughout my career I have worked across disciplinary and professional boundaries, bringing together perspectives from psychology, epidemiology, statistics, health economics and the health sciences to address methodological challenges in intervention research. Before joining the University of Dundee in 2017, I held a joint appointment between the Department of Health Sciences and the Hull York Medical School at the University of York, where my research focused on the measurement and epidemiology of mental health. Together with Tim Croudace, I introduced the concept of psychometric epidemiology to encourage a stronger integration of psychometric theory into epidemiological research, shifting the focus away from viewing questionnaires as arbitrary collections of items towards theory- and construct-guided measurement of mental health. I trained as a psychologist at the University of Konstanz and completed my PhD at Trier University, where my thesis on item response models for the interpretation of patient-reported outcomes received a University of Trier award recognising its scientific quality and contribution to practice-oriented research.

Alongside my research, I teach quantitative methods, research design and evidence evaluation across postgraduate, doctoral and continuing professional education. I work with clinicians, psychologists, nurses, allied health professionals and interdisciplinary doctoral researchers, emphasising the practical application and critical interpretation of quantitative methods. Beyond university teaching, I contribute to professional education by training future psychotherapists in the use of psychological assessment for intervention planning, measurement-based care, and quality assurance and improvement in routine clinical practice. Across these activities, I enjoy supporting researchers and health professionals from different disciplines in developing the confidence and methodological judgement to apply quantitative methods appropriately within their own fields.

I am also committed to strengthening research quality and quantitative capability across disciplines through academic leadership and service. I served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of "Quality of Life Research" from 2017 to 2024, led the University of Dundee's REF2021 submission for Unit of Assessment 3, contribute to research ethics governance, and have helped develop methodological guidance and reporting standards for health research. Alongside my appointment at Dundee, I lead an honorary interdisciplinary research group at the Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit (Mannheim), bringing together expertise in psychological assessment, health economics and quantitative evaluation to address methodological challenges in mental health. Across my research, teaching and academic leadership, I seek to promote rigorous, transparent and collaborative research that strengthens the quality of evidence used to improve health and social care.