Laura E. Henkhaus, PhD
Health Economist with Expertise Across Research, Healthcare, and Biopharma
LinkedIn ∙ Website ∙ Google Scholar ∙ New York, NY
University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
PhD, Health Economics August 2019
Awards: Outcomes Outstanding Doctoral Scholar Award from the USC School of Pharmacy; B.B. Robbie Rossman Annual Memorial Child Maltreatment Research Award from the International Summit on Violence, Abuse and Trauma
Honor: Selected to deliver Doctor of Philosophy Address at the School of Pharmacy Commencement by a committee of students and graduate affairs administrator
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA
BS, Environmental Economics and Policy May 2012
Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine Titusville, NJ
Director, Access and Policy Research (Scientific Affairs) June 2025 – present
Lead research supporting evidence-based policies that accelerate medical innovation and enhance patient value, access and affordability at the J&J Center for U.S. Healthcare Policy Research
PriMed Management Consulting Services, Hill Physicians Medical Group New York, NY
Staff Data Scientist March 2025 – June 2025
Data Scientist May 2022 – March 2025
Demonstrated $0.5-3.3M annual savings from care management program in presentation to executive committee, leading value assessments leveraging health insurance claims data, electronic health records, and clinical team insights
Launched pilot patient support program for diabetes management in collaboration with pharmacy services by developing randomized study design and statistical analysis plan
Advanced health equity initiatives and informed new business strategy through presentation to Finance All Hands: (1) demonstrating business case that socioeconomic status predicted 15% higher costs among membership and (2) leveraging public data to facilitate patient targeting
Led cross-functional initiative with specialist physicians to build clinical decision support tool predicting cardiovascular risk by consulting vendor and comparing vendor solutions with machine learning models developed in-house
Developed organizational capacity in health economics and outcomes research by training data science staff and clinicians on impact evaluation methods, econometric analysis, and healthcare data management
Vanderbilt University, Data Science Institute Nashville, TN
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Department of Health Policy August 2019 – April 2022
Data Scientist, Postdoctoral Researcher
Cited by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services for research demonstrating positive impacts of vaccine policies on uptake and disease prevention, measured using rigorous causal inference methods (difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity) and published in the American Journal of Health Economics and Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
Produced policy-relevant, rapid-response research on COVID-19 impacts on families by developing survey questionnaire, interpreting results, and drafting publication for Pediatrics in less than 2 months, which resulted in extensive media coverage and 1,500+ citations including by the National Association of Medicaid Directors and CDC
Influenced allocation of state budget including >$2B in federal funds for COVID-19 relief by partnering with TN Medicaid, Department of Health, and Department of Education to develop a research agenda with national importance while sensitive to state needs (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award #75821; $1.25M)
Consultant February 2021 – July 2021
Informed report to CDC by providing feedback on survey development and analysis plan to identify barriers and facilitators of vaccine receipt among Black and Latina women, which resulted in 2K responses, in partnership with the National Council of Negro Women
Precision Health Economics (acquired by Precision for Medicine) Los Angeles, CA
Research Associate June 2012 – June 2014
Developed methodology paper on indirect treatment comparison by evaluating health technology assessment approaches, collaborating with pharmaceutical clients to present recommendations at ISPOR Europe 2014
Led systematic literature review and meta-analysis of undiagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation prevalence by managing project needs and contributions from multidisciplinary team including clinician consultants, epidemiologists, health economists, and pharmaceutical industry partners
Shaped evidence generation strategy for medication adherence by synthesizing research priorities through stakeholder engagement and publishing recommendations in a manuscript in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy
Drafted written expert witness statements for 2 litigation cases regarding calculation of damages and class certification
Churchill, Brandyn F., Laura E. Henkhaus, and Emily C. Lawler. 2025. “Effect of vaccine recommendations on consumer and firm behavior.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 44 (1): 125-150. [Link]
Churchill, Brandyn F. and Laura E. Henkhaus. 2023. “The roles of cost and recommendations in driving vaccine take-up: evidence from the herpes zoster vaccine for shingles prevention.” American Journal of Health Economics 9 (4): 523-551. [Link]
Selected media coverage: [Medical Xpress]
Citation by policymakers: [U.S. Health and Human Services, Inflation Reduction Act Research Series (2024)]
Henkhaus, Laura E. 2022. “The lasting consequences of childhood sexual abuse on human capital and economic well-being.” Health Economics 31 (9): 1954-1972. [Link]
Henkhaus, Laura E., Gilbert Gonzales, and Melinda B. Buntin. 2022. “An Algorithm Using Administrative Data to Measure Adverse Childhood Experiences (ADM-ACE).” Health Services Research 57 (4): 963-972. [Link]
Tran, Nathaniel, Laura E. Henkhaus, and Gilbert Gonzales. 2022. “Adverse childhood experiences and mental distress among US adults by sexual orientation.” JAMA Psychiatry 79 (4): 377-379. [Link]
Selected media coverage: [Vanderbilt Health DNA: Discoveries in Action (podcast episode)]
Citation in legal proceedings: [U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, The Imperial Sovereign Court of the State of Montana et al v. Knudsen et al (2023)]
Henkhaus, Laura E., Melinda B. Buntin, Sarah Clark Henderson, Pikki Lai, and Stephen W. Patrick. 2021. “Disparities in receipt of medications for opioid use disorder among pregnant women.” Substance Abuse 43 (1): 508-513. [Link]
Selected media coverage: [ABC News Memphis]
Citation by policymakers: [National Institute on Drug Abuse]
Patrick, Stephen W., Laura E. Henkhaus, Joseph S. Zickafoose, Kim Lovell, Alese Halvorson, Sarah Loch, Mia Letterie, and Matthew M. Davis. 2020. “Well-being of parents and children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey.” Pediatrics 146 (4). [Link]
Selected media coverage: [NBC News] [NBC Chicago] [US News] [WPLN News] [WKU Public Radio] [Courthouse News] [MedPage Today] [Medical Xpress] [Public Health on Call, podcast from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health] [CNN]
Citation by policymakers: [National Association of Medicaid Directors] [Public Health Authority of Sweden]
Henkhaus, Laura E. 2019. “The child left behind: parental incarceration and adult human capital in the United States.” American Economic Association Papers & Proceedings 109:199-203.
Joyce, Geoffrey, Laura E. Henkhaus, Laura Gascue, and Julie Zissimopoulos. 2018. “Generic drug price hikes and out-of-pocket spending for Medicare beneficiaries.” Health Affairs 37 (10): 1578-86. [Link]
Media coverage: [Forbes]
Seabury, Seth A., Charu N. Gupta, Tomas J. Philipson, Laura E. Henkhaus, and the PhRMA Medication Adherence Advisory Council. 2014. “Understanding and overcoming barriers to medication adherence: a review of research priorities.” Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy 20 (8): 775-83. [Link]
Conference Abstracts
Henkhaus, Laura E., and Joel W. Hay. 2016. “Cost-effectiveness of empagliflozin/linagliptin as 2nd-line therapy for adults with type 2 diabetes.” Value in Health 19 (3): A202-A03. Poster presentation at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research International Meeting in 2016. [Link]
Shafrin, Jason, Vanja Sikirica, Anshu Shrestha, Laura E. Henkhaus, M. Haim Erder, and Amitabh Chandra. 2014. “Methodological assessment of matching-adjusted indirect comparisons: case study application to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).” Value in Health 17 (7): A579. [Link]
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Policies for Action Grant (Co-Principal Investigators: Melinda B. Buntin, PhD and Carolyn J. Heinrich, PhD), 2019-2022
Co-investigator on project: “Identifying how current policies, processes, and programs might more effectively serve children and families in low-resource households in Tennessee” (RWJF Award #75821; $1.25M)
AHRQ Dissertation Grant (Principal Investigator: Laura E. Henkhaus), 2018-2019
Awarded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for dissertation on economic wellbeing, health care access, and health of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (R36HS026444-01; $41,882)
Schaeffer-Amgen Predoctoral Fellowship, 2016-2018
Awarded by the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics
NIH Grants on Aging (Co-Principal Investigators: Geoffrey Joyce, PhD and Julie Zissimopoulos, PhD), 2015-2018
Research team member in group examining economic underpinnings of Medicare Part D and its consequences, supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging (NIH/NIA R01-AG-29514, NIH/NIA P01 AG33559-01A1, and NIH 1 RC4 AG039036-01); my time was covered by university fellowships
University of Southern California, School of Pharmacy Fellowship, 2014-2016
Invited Seminar and Conference Presentations
Developing Evidence-Based Drug Policy Conference, hosted virtually by the Rockefeller Institute of Government of the State University of New York, November 2021
TennCare Virtual Health Plan Meeting, October 2021
American Public Health Association Virtual Annual Meeting, October 2020
International Health Economics Association World Congress in Basel, Switzerland, July 2019
American Society of Health Economists Annual Conference in Washington, DC, June 2019
University of Massachusetts Amherst, February 2019
Vanderbilt University, February 2019
Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas City, February 2019
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, February 2019
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, MD, January 2019
Allied Social Science Associations Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA, January 2019
Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA, January 2019
Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management Fall Research Conference in Washington, DC, November 2018
Add Health Users Conference at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD*, July 2018
Population Association of America Annual Meeting in Denver, CO, April 2018
Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management International Conference in Brussels, Belgium, July 2017
American Society of Health Economists Biennial Conference in Philadelphia, PA**, June 2016
* Awarded travel stipend by conference committee based on scientific merit of paper to be presented, provided by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
** Awarded travel stipend by the American Society of Health Economists jointly with the National Institutes of Health
Invited Discussant Presentations
Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association in Houston, TX, November 2021
American Society of Health Economists Virtual Conference, June 2021
American Society of Health Economists Biennial Conference in Atlanta, GA, June 2018
Invited Workshop Participation
National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute
Workshops on Health Economics, July 2020, July 2021
Workshops on Health Care and Children, July 2019
Workshops on Labor Studies and Education, July 2018
RAND Summer Institute
Workshop on Demography, Economics, Psychology, and Epidemiology of Aging, July 2018
Vanderbilt University
Health Economics (Master’s/PhD students)
Guest Lecturer: “The Economics of Health Externalities and Health Equity” (Spring 2021, 2022); “Health Capital: the Grossman Model” (PhD Lab, Spring 2022)
Co-instructor: Lecture topics included research methods, health capital, demand for health care, socioeconomic disparities in health, the economics of health externalities, provider behavior, hospital industry (Spring 2020)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Social Medicine Lecture Series (Internal Medicine residents)
Guest Lecturer: “Adverse Childhood Experiences and Implications for Adult Well-being and Medical Care” (Spring 2021)
University of Southern California
Programming Methods for Empirical Analysis of Health Data (Master’s/PhD students)
Guest Lecturer: “Missing Data and Imputation: Diagnosing Nature of Missing Data, Implications for Bias, and Review of Analysis Techniques with Emphasis on Multiple Imputation” (Fall 2018)
Research Design (Master’s/PhD students)
Guest Lecturer: “Partial Identification Methods for Bounding Treatment Effects: What Can We Learn When (Quasi-) Experimental Design Is Not Possible?” (Fall 2018)
Peer Reviews
Forum for Health Economics & Policy, Journal of Adolescent Health (x2), Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Pediatrics (x3), PLOS ONE
English (native), Spanish (fluent)