Health Systems Program

Global Health Economics

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Global Health Economics in the Health Systems Program

Our global health economics work is focused on applying economic thinking and tools to the health challenges faced by low- and middle-income countries. Our faculty have expertise in a range of areas, including 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 LMICs and actively engage with global development institutions such as the World Bank and World Health Organization, as well as national governments. We apply economic methods to ensure that health systems in resource-poor contexts can serve their populations in an efficient, effective, and affordable manner.

Our faculty use applied skills in economics and econometrics to address a wide range of health issues, such as aging, chronic conditions, access to rehabilitation services, injury prevention, and price transparency and gouging in drug prices. Our faculty have experience in evaluating the broader economic impact of vaccines and vaccination programs, estimating disease burden, incentive design for the health workforce, and researching ways to equitably improve access to affordable health services in resource-poor areas.

Meet some of our global health economics faculty

Antonio Trujillo

Antonio J. Trujillo

Associate Professor

Antonio Trujillo, PhD, MPP, is a health economist working to improve access to medicines and the lives of seniors with chronic conditions around the globe.

Bryan Patenaude

Bryan N. Patenaude

Associate Professor
International Health

Bryan Patenaude, ScD ’17, MA, researches the sustainability, efficiency, and equity of public health programs and health systems in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Andres Vecino-Ortiz

Associate Research Professor
International Health

Andres Vecino, MD, PhD '16, MSc, uses economics theory and methods to improve health systems in lower and middle-income countries with a focus on Latin America.

Krishna Rao

Krishna Dipankar Rao

Associate Professor
International Health

Krishna D. Rao, PhD ’04, MSc, finds ways to improve access to quality health services and financing of health care in low and middle-income countries.

Examples of Latest Projects

Vaccine Economics Research for Sustainability & Equity (VERSE): The VERSE project aims to generate policy- and decision-maker centric statistical and model-based toolkits using cutting-edge methodologies to measure the costs, economic impact, return-on-investment, and equity of vaccine and other public health programs.

Future Health Spending and Treatment Patterns in Latin America and the Caribbean: This project examines the challenge LAC countries face in balancing their universal health coverage aspirations with the need to manage rising health expenditures in the future.

Modeling Dynamic Disease-Behavior Feedbacks for Improved Epidemic Prediction and Response: This project is multi-disciplinary effort to bring together expertise in epidemiology, mathematical biology, systems engineering, economics, and decision science at Johns Hopkins University to develop a new integrated modeling framework that combines traditional epidemiological models of disease spread with economic models of individual decision-making.

Arnold Foundation Project: Faculty are exploring the impact of brand-to-brand competition on prescription drug prices and examining how biosimilars influence competition and the pricing of reference products. Additionally, the research investigates public policies that promote R&D in drug development globally.