I am an Assistant Professor and C. Family Dean’s Faculty Fellow of Medicine, Health, and Society and of Public Policy at Vanderbilt University, College of Arts and Science. Additionally, I am a faculty affiliate at the Vanderbilt Center for Research on Inequality and Health, and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

I am an applied microeconomist, and my research covers the fields of health economics, crime economics, and public economics. Broadly, much of my work is motivated by advancing our understanding of the stubborn problems of America—problems that adversely impact a large number of Americans but where progress has persistently been limited. My current research focuses on policy-relevant academic inquiry on topics related to the opioid crisis, mental health, incarceration, and gun violence. I have published or have work accepted at leading peer-reviewed journals, such as the American Economic Review: Insights. My work has been covered by major media outlets, including The Economist and the Chicago Tribune, cited in policymaking by the Mayor’s Office of Chicago, and highlighted as policy-relevant academic research by the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress. Additionally, I served for four years as the founding leader of the world’s largest research hub on mental health economics.

Before joining Vanderbilt University, I received my PhD in Economics from the University of Sussex and was a Fulbright Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Subsequently, I was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Chicago, Urban Labs, where I remain an affiliate.

You can reach me at panka.bencsik@vanderbilt.edu. 

Name pronounced as: Panka—sounds like Bianca or Blanca; Bencsik—sounds like Ben-chick (as in chickpeas)