Pursuing Health Services Research and Informing Policy

Alexandra Harris is a PhD student in the Health Services Integrated Program (HSIP) at Feinberg. She is on the Health Services and Outcomes Research track. 

Harris holds a bachelor of arts with honors from The University of Alabama and a master of public health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Prior to starting the doctoral program, she was a project lead at the Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), a leading national healthcare quality measurement organization.  

In the laboratory of Neil Jordan, PhD, director of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine's Center for Education in Health Sciences, Harris studies health economics, particularly as it pertains to pharmaceutical pricing and understanding the effect of healthcare market consolidation on patient outcomes. 

Where is your hometown?  

I have two! Thames, New Zealand for the first part of my childhood and Guilford, Connecticut for the second half. 

What sparked your interest in science or medicine? 

Since I was young, I've always been driven by a moral imperative to elevate the lives of those around me. When I discovered public health as a discipline, I was captivated by the endless challenges and incredible opportunities to improve population health and well-being. I loved the interdisciplinary nature of the field and that I could combine my interest in healthcare with my formal training in philosophy and economics. 

What are your research interests? 

I'm primarily interested in the causes and consequences of the ways in which health systems are organized and financed in the United States.  

What are you currently working on? 

I just successfully defended my dissertation, which examined the effect of hospital-physician vertical integration on costs, quality and health services utilization for insured patients with multiple chronic conditions. I'm wrapping up that work and submitting for publication this month. 

Please tell us about a defining moment in your education at Feinberg thus far. 

A defining moment in my education at Feinberg was receiving an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) dissertation grant to support my research. Securing this funding was not only a practical milestone—it also marked a turning point in my confidence as a researcher. It affirmed that my ideas were both meaningful and feasible, and it empowered me to take ownership of a complex project from initial concept through dissemination. This experience solidified my belief that I could design and carry out independent, rigorous research with significant real-world relevance. 

What do you hope to do with your degree?   

I've always hoped to be at the pinnacle of health services research. After graduation, I will be joining the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), where I will conduct health services research and support the organization in advising the U.S. Congress on Medicare policy issues.