About

The Department's mission is to inform health policy and improve health and health care through research, education, and service. 

The Department faculty supports the Vanderbilt MPH degree program, including tracks in Health Policy, Global Health and Epidemiology, and a PhD program in Health Policy and Health Services Research, which offers full funding to students, and the opportunity to collaborate and work across disciplines at Vanderbilt.

The Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is a large and welcoming group of health policy faculty and staff who have broad experiences and backgrounds and conducting world-class health services research. The Department's collective goal is to inform health policy solutions and positively impact numerous areas of public health. The Department builds on a history of strong collaborative relationships with the Tennessee Department of Health, Tenncare, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other local, state, national and global policy makers.

The combination of a major research university and preeminent medical center gives Department faculty incredible opportunities to build relationships with frontline care providers and policymakers which can lead to breakthrough discoveries.  The Department fosters a culture that research and innovative thinking can guide health policies for all populations, and help policymakers understand the tradeoffs of different approaches. 

 

  • The Department of Health Policy emerged from Vanderbilt’s Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, which began in 1924. The Department was established in 2013 with a mission to inform health policy and improve health and health care through research, education, and service.

    Department Chairs:

    Department of Health Policy

    Dr. David Stevenson, 2023 - present

    Dr. Melinda Buntin, 2013 - 2023

    Department of Preventive Medicine

    Dr. William Schaffner, 1982 - 2013
    Dr. Charles Federspiel, (Interim Chair) 1978 - 1982 
    Dr. Robert Quinn, 1952 - 1978

    Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health

    Dr. William Fry, 1945 - 1948
    Dr. Alvin Keller, 1948 - 1952
    Dr. Waller Leathers, 1924 - 1945

  • Mission

    The Department's mission is to inform health policy and improve health and health care through research, education, and service.

    To achieve these aims, we must:

    • Educate and prepare the next generation of exemplary health policy researchers;
    • Identify, investigate and disseminate effective solutions to complex health policy challenges;
    • Translate research into effective practices and sound policies; and
    • Serve our local, state and national health care communities through engagement, education, and application of solutions 

     

  • Faculty research interests include:

    • Health care financing, access, reform, utilization and coverage
    • Implications of national, state and local policy changes, including to programs such as Medicare and Medicaid
    • Aging, long-term care, and end–of-life care
    • Health care quality and safety
    • Health delivery system improvement
    • Health economics and disparities
    • Provider payment reform
    • Health services research
    • Pharmacoepidemiology
    • Global health
    • ​Cancer epidemiology
    • Infectious diseases

  • The Department faculty supports the Vanderbilt MPH degree program, including tracks in Health Policy, Global Health and Epidemiology, and a PhD program in Health Policy and Health Services Research, which offers full funding to students, and the opportunity to collaborate and work across disciplines at Vanderbilt.

    Learn more about the Vanderbilt MPH program.

    Learn more about the PhD in Health Policy & Health Services Research program.

  • Recognizing that the impact of health policy is felt in many different disciplines, the Department has formed dynamic relationships with several other University departments by conferring secondary appointments to faculty whose work encompasses health policy implications. These formal associations leverage the combined University and Medical Center campus and allow Department faculty to easily work across schools and centers.

    Departments in which we’ve given secondary and adjunct appointments to faculty:

    School of Medicine

    • Department of Anesthesiology
    • Department of Biostatistics
    • Department of Medicine
    • Department of Pediatrics
    • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Services
    • Department of Urologic Surgery
    • Institute for Global Health
    • Institute for Medicine and Public Health

    College of Arts and Science

    • Center for Medicine, Health, and Society
    • Department of Economics

    Owen Graduate School of Management

    Peabody College of Education and Human Development

    • Department of Human and Organizational Development

  • The mission of the Institute for Medicine and Public Health is to improve personal and public health through discovery, training and service programs aimed to protect against threats to health, promote healthier living, improve the quality of health services, and prepare leaders to advance health and healthcare. The work of The Institute for Medicine and Public Health is conducted by its member and affiliated Centers, Institutes and Programs. The Department of Health Policy is a member of this growing community of researchers, teachers and experts are working collaboratively to address important health care issues, generate innovative hypotheses, and expedite discovery and dissemination of new knowledge. The Institute serves to motivate, educate and support investigators and educators who will translate new evidence into health care practice, thereby improving personal and community health.

    Please visit the IMPH website for more information.