Meet the Global Health Economics Faculty
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Our faculty have expertise in a range of areas – health care financing, economic evaluation, behavioral economics, contingent valuation, econometric methods, impact evaluation of health programs, and economic development. Faculty have rich experience working in a range of low- and middle-income countries and actively engage with global development institutions such as the World Bank and WHO, as well as, national governments.
 David Bishai, MD, PhD Professor | Dr. Bishai’s major research interest is the economics of public health practice. Bishai’s current projects focus on the connection between the operations at national, state and local health departments and improved population health. He is currently conducting work on public health in Qatar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Select Publications Leider, J. P., Alfonso, N., Resnick, B., Brady, E., McCullough, J. M., & Bishai, D. (2018). Assessing The Value Of 40 Years Of Local Public Expenditures On Health. Health Affairs, 37(4), 560-569. |
 Cristina Garcia, PhD, MHS Assistant Scientist | Dr. Garcia’s work focuses on evaluating the broader economic impact of vaccines, including estimating disease and economic burden of vaccine-preventable illness, evaluating approaches to increasing vaccine demand, and measuring the economic impact of vaccine introduction. Her research interests are in measuring health system inequities, understanding the impact of out-of-pocket health expenditures on families, and evaluating health systems approaches to financial risk protection and vaccine access. Select Publications Breast-Feeding Initiation Time and Neonatal Mortality Risk among Newborns in South India. Garcia CR, Mullany LC, Rahmathullah L, Katz J, Thulasiraj RD, Sheeladevi S, Coles C, Tielsch JM. J Perinatol 2011; 31(6):397-403. |
 Bryan Patenaude, ScD Assistant Professor | Dr. Patenaude is a health economist with research interests in understanding health system strength, sustainability, and efficiency in low- and lower-middle-income countries, applying behavioral economics to the economic evaluation of public health policy, incentive design for the health workforce, and understanding the medium- and long-term causal impact of health investments on non-health sectors. Select Publications The impact of ART initiation on household food security over time. Patenaude BN, Chimbindi N, Pillay D, Bärnighausen T. Soc Sci Med. 2018 Feb;198:175-184. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.036. Epub 2017 Nov 26. |
| Dr. Rao’s work focuses on health systems in low- and middle-income countries. Within the area of health systems, he works largely in three areas: human resources, health services research and health financing. His research goals center around finding ways to equitably improve access to affordable health services in resource-poor areas. Select Publications Rao, K.D., Ryan, M., Shroff, Z., Vujicic, M., Ramani, S., & Berman, P. (2013). Rural clinician scarcity and job preferences of doctors and nurses in India: a discrete choice experiment. PLoS One, 8,12. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082984. |
| Sorkin’s research focuses on the economics of health care in developing countries and, more specifically, health and economic development. Select Publications Health Economics for Developing Nations, Heath Lexington, l976. |
 Antonio Trujillo, PhD Associate Professor | Dr. Trujillo is a health economist with expertise in economics of aging, chronic conditions and applied econometrics. He is director of the Master’s in Global Health Economics program with research interests in the risk behaviors, management and prevention of chronic conditions. One of his goals is to design effective public health programs to motivate individuals with diabetes and hypertension to engage in self-management. He is also exploring how an economic view of fairness can inform regulation on prices transparency and gouging in drug prices. Select publications Trujillo, A., Fleisher, L* (2013). Beyond Income, Access and Knowledge: the Education Gradient on Prevention among Diabetics and Hypertensive. Journal of Aging and Health, Vol 25:8, pp. 1398-1424. |
| Dr. Vecino is a health economics faculty in the Health Systems Program and a researcher with the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU). Dr. Vecino’s primary research interests focus on the economics of prevention of NCDI, and how evidence can inform and influence policy. Dr Vecino holds a global seat at the Board of Health Systems Global. Select Publications Vecino-Ortiz AI, Jafri A, Hyder AA Mortality impacts of interventions for unintentional injuries: prioritizing interventions that work for the poorest billion. The Lancet Global Health. 2018; 6 (5): e523-e534. Q1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30107-4 |
