Wayne State establishes Health Economics Research and Analysis Group

Wayne State is pleased to announce the establishment of the Health Economics Research and Analysis (HERA) Group, a partnership between the Department of Economics, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) and the Integrative Biosciences Center (iBio).

The purpose of this group is to provide the university research community with a core competency of health economics for biomedical research and education, engaging graduate students in research and training with faculty supervision.

Under the supervision of Economics Professors Shooshan Danagoulian and Allen Goodman, graduate students will participate in collaborative projects across schools and colleges at Wayne State, providing economic analysis and research on projects relating broadly to cost, delivery, and effectiveness of health care.

Prominent among projects, graduate students will participate in the Population Health OutcomEs aNd Information EXchange (PHOENIX) initiative (a $500,000 Wayne State University health initiative supported by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund), designed to improve health in communities in Detroit. As part of the initiative, students will develop skills in applied data analysis, biostatistics, epidemiology, grant writing and database management.

We expect HERA to be a powerful recruiting tool for both graduate students and faculty. By providing practical research experience, students will be better prepared to write dissertations and publish and, thus, be attractive candidates on the job market. In addition, the research support for department faculty that HERA provides will enhance their to obtain and manage external research grants.

HERA will initially fund four graduate research assistantships for doctoral students as they transition from coursework to dissertation research. Students will work closely with supervising faculty to develop dissertation topics using the data and resources integral to the partnership.