Doctor of Philosophy in Social Policy

PhD Faculty

Concentration Chairs

Dolores Acevedo-Garcia

Dolores Acevedo-Garcia

Samuel F. and Rose B. Gingold Professor of Human Development and Social Policy and Director, Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy; Concentration Chair, Child, Youth and Families

Expertise: Public health, racial/ethnic disparities in health and social determinants of health, social policy and health

Acevedo-Garcia’s research focuses on the social determinants of racial/ethnic inequities in health, such as in residential segregation, neighborhood inequality and immigrant adaptation; the role of social policies in reducing those inequities, such as housing and immigration policies; and the health and wellbeing of children with disabilities and their families.

781-736-3715 Heller-Brown 364
Constance Horgan, Professor, Director of the Institute for Behavioral Health

Constance Horgan

Professor and Director, Institute for Behavioral Health; Co-Director, Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research; Concentration Chair, Behavioral Health

Expertise: Organization and financing of alcohol, drug and mental health service; quality and effectiveness of behavioral health treatment

Horgan’s research focuses on the organization, financing and quality of behavioral healthcare. She examines how alcohol, drug and mental health services are financed, organized, and delivered in the public and private sectors, and what approaches can be used to improve the quality and effectiveness of the delivery system.  

781-736-3916 Heller-Brown 257
Lisa Lynch, Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy and director, Institute for Economic and Racial Equity

Lisa M. Lynch

Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy; Director, PhD Program; Director, Institute for Economic and Racial Equity; Concentration Co-Chair, Economic and Racial Equity

Expertise: Labor markets, unemployment, organizational innovation
781-736-8690 Heller-Brown 357
Tatjana Meschede

Tatjana Meschede

Senior Scientist and Senior Lecturer; Concentration Co-Chair, Economic and Racial Equity

Expertise: Poverty, economic security, homelessness and housing, research methods/statistics, working with large national data sets

Meschede’s research centers on economic inequities and social and economic mobility with a specific focus on racial wealth disparities, housing and homelessness. A skilled qualitative and quantitative researcher, her work ranges from community centered evaluations collaborating with local non-profits and state departments to national data projects.

781-736-8678 Heller-Brown 361
Jennifer Perloff, PhD'06, Senior Scientist and Director, Institute on Healthcare Systems

Jennifer Perloff, PhD’06

Senior Scientist and Director, Institute on Healthcare Systems; Concentration Chair, Health

Expertise: Evaluation research, study design, survey tool design and validation, data analysis, including claims data, manuscript preparation

Perloff is an expert in health services research and evaluation, with a strong emphasis on value-based payment. She has been involved in numerous studies on the cost, quality and efficiency of nurse practitioner-delivered primary care, as well as research and policy analysis to support population health models and other value-based models, such as episode-based payment.

781-736-3935 Schneider 213

PhD Faculty

Stuart Altman, Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy

Stuart Altman

Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy and Co-Director, Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research

Expertise: Healthcare economics and policy; healthcare industry reform, Medicare
781-736-3803 Schneider 214
Head shot of Professor Larry Bailis

Larry Bailis

Associate Professor

Expertise: Service programs, service-learning and experiential education; university-community partnerships; program evaluation; evaluation of advocacy programs
617-868-2468 Heller-Brown 369
Professor Christine Bishop

Christine Bishop

Atran Professor of Labor Economics

Expertise: Health economics; economics of long-term services and supports and post-acute care; economics of aging
781-736-3942 Schneider 212
Janet Boguslaw

Janet Boguslaw

Senior Scientist and Senior Lecturer

Expertise: Asset development, program implementation and evaluation; poverty and economic security; precarious work; stakeholder engagement; qualitative methods and analysis; case studies
781-736-3738
William Crown, Distinguished Research Scientist

William Crown

Distinguished Scientist

Expertise: Health economics, pharmaceutical economics, real world analysis, comparative effectiveness research, causal inference, machine learning
Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Professor and Associate Dean, Academics

Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld

Professor and Director, Social Impact MBA Program

Expertise: Theory and method in industrial relations, negotiations, institutional analysis, organizational behavior, information systems, employment law, cross-cultural studies
781-736-3998 Schneider 202
Karen Donelan, Stuart H. Altman Chair in U.S. Health Policy

Karen Donelan

Stuart H. Altman Chair in U.S. Health Policy

Expertise: Health survey research; health workforce research; health system innovation and evaluation; health systems and services diversity, equity, inclusion research; health teams for older adults, including adults with dementia and disability
Stephen Fournier, Senior Lecturer in the Heller School and Adjunct Professor in the Brandeis International Business School

Stephen Fournier

Senior Lecturer in the Heller School and Adjunct Professor in the International Business School

Expertise: Statistics, econometrics, data analysis and applied causal modeling and data maintenance, special expertise in both Stata and SPSS
781-736-3898 Heller-Brown 368
Deborah Garnick, Professor

Deborah Garnick

Professor

Expertise: Managed care, health care quality, substance abuse treatment services, insurance reform, performance measurement, healthcare datasets, survey data
781-736-3840 Heller-Brown 256
Professor Jody Hoffer Gittell

Jody Hoffer Gittell

Professor

Expertise: Organizational change, organizational effectiveness, organizational resilience, organizational theory, human resource management, relational coordination
781-736-3680 Schneider 206
Anita Hill, University Professor

Anita Hill

University Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Expertise: Anti-Discrimination Law and Policy (Gender and Race)
781-736-3896 Heller-Brown 374
Dominic Hodgkin, Professor

Dominic Hodgkin

Professor

Expertise: Health economics, managed care, economics of mental health and substance abuse, prescription drugs
781-736-8551 Heller-Brown 264
Nina Kammerer, Senior Lecturer

Nina Kammerer

Senior Lecturer

Expertise: Anthropology and public health, Southeast Asia, U.S., and Catalunya, Spain, qualitative research methods, mixed methods, program evaluation, health services research, behavioral health, HIV/AIDS, trauma, ethnicities and nations, gender, kinship and social organization, ritual and religion
781-736-2940 Heller-Brown 353
Maria Madison, Interim Dean

Maria Madison

Interim Dean

Expertise: intersectionality and bioethics, anti-bias/anti-racism workshops and pro seminars, discrimination analytics, clinical trial design optimization and problem solving, and evidence-based research methods; clinical and public health research in Africa and Europe

Madison is a public health researcher with extensive experience in clinical trials and population health disparities research. In addition to implementing evidence-based diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Heller, her research builds on multidisciplinary thinking to address systematized racism and close equity gaps through policy. She has received awards in pharmacovigilance and public history. She teaches racial determinants of health and inequality, and bioethics.

781-736-3886 Schneider 119
Monika Mitra, Nancy Lurie Marks Associate Professor of Disability Policy and Director of the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy

Monika Mitra

Nancy Lurie Marks Professor of Disability Policy and Director of the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy

Expertise: Health and disability research; public health approach to disability; disability-related disparities in health and health care access; violence against persons with disabilities; perinatal health of women with disabilities; reproductive health care access; unmet needs and barriers to care for people with disabilities
781-736-3807 Heller-Brown 362
Lee Panas, Senior Programmer and Lecturer

Lee Panas

Senior Programmer and Lecturer

Expertise: Statistical programming and analysis of large state and national databases
781-736-3943 Heller-Brown 270
Sharon Reif, PhD'02

Sharon Reif, PhD'02

Professor

Expertise: Health services research, with a focus on substance use disorders (substance abuse, addiction, alcohol, drugs) and other behavioral health
781-736-3924 Heller-Brown 259
Grant A. Ritter, Associate Research Professor

Grant Ritter

Associate Professor

Expertise: Statistics, quantitative methods, health services research
781-736-3872 Heller-Brown 268
Rajesh Sampath, Associate Professor of the Philosophy of Justice, Rights, and Social Change

Rajesh Sampath

Associate Professor of the Philosophy of Justice, Rights, and Social Change

Expertise: General topics in applied moral and political philosophy; philosophy of development; comparative religions; theories of justice; development ethics; philosophy of law, comparative constitutional law, critical race theory, gender and sexuality, human rights and theories of democracy
781-736-5338 Heller-Brown 157
Leonard Saxe, Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies

Leonard Saxe

Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies

Expertise: Social psychology, methodology, policy analysis; American Jewry
781-736-3952 Lown 320
Donald Shepard, Professor

Donald Shepard

Professor

Expertise: Health economics, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis, health financing in the United States and globally, and their application to drug and alcohol abuse, cardiovascular disease, dengue and malaria
781-736-3975 Heller-Brown 275
Laurence Simon, Professor of International Development and Director of the Center for Global Development and Sustainability

Laurence Simon

Professor of International Development and Director, Center for Global Development and Sustainability

Expertise: Philosophy of development, political geography, poverty alleviation, agrarian reform, project planning and implementation, evaluation, organizational management
781-736-4148 Heller-Brown 160
Maureen Stewart, PhD'09, Scientist and Lecturer

Maureen Stewart, PhD'09

Senior Scientist and Lecturer

Expertise: Health services research, with a focus on financing and organization of behavioral health care; use of technology to improve access to and quality of behavioral health care
781-736-3717 Heller-Brown 262
Cindy Thomas, PhD'00, Professor and Associate Dean for Research

Cindy Parks Thomas, PhD'00

Professor and Associate Dean for Research

Expertise: Health policy, health technology transfer, state health reform, prescription drug policy, addiction treatment, Medicare and Medicaid coverage

Thomas researches and evaluates state and national health reform, pharmacy policy, insurance benefit design, and prescription drug abuse. Her work includes analyses of prescription drug utilization and spending trends, technology transfer, and impact evaluations of state coverage programs. Her work in behavioral health includes adoption and impact of new substance use disorder treatments, quality of treatment, and monitoring the prescribing and use of controlled substances. 

781-736-3921 Schneider 216
Christopher Tompkins, Associate Professor

Christopher Tompkins, MMHS’82, PhD’91

Associate Research Professor

Expertise: Health services research, health economics, national and state health policy, research methods
781-736-3913 Schneider 219
Marji Erickson Warfield, Senior Scientist and Lecturer

Marji Erickson Warfield, PhD’91

Senior Scientist and Lecturer

Expertise: Children and youth with developmental disabilities and special health care needs, family adaptation, longitudinal studies, program evaluation
781-736-3833 Heller-Brown 350
David Weil

David Weil

Professor

Expertise: Employment or unemployment studies, labor economics, regulation, labor market policy
781-736-2019 Heller-Brown 356
Graham Wright, PhD'16

Graham Wright, MPP'15, PhD’16

Associate Research Scientist and Lecturer

Graham Wright is an Associate Research Scientist and Lecturer at the Steinhardt Social Research Institute and the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies.
781-736-2134 Lown 314B