Center for State Health Policy

Providing impartial policy analysis, research, facilitation, and consultation on pressing state health policy issues.

Overview

Established in 1999 with major funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Center combines Rutgers University’s traditional academic strengths in public health, health services research, and social science with applied research and policy analysis initiatives.

Housed within the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, a unit of Rutgers Health, the Center was conceived in response to the unique and essential role of the states in the formation and implementation of sound health policy.

The Center is home to an expert, dedicated team of multidisciplinary faculty and staff who regularly engage with key state health policy stakeholders to:

  • Conduct rigorous, timely, and impartial research on health policy issues;
  • Provide objective and practical evaluation of programs and policy choices;
  • Educate current and future health policy makers, researchers, and administrators; and
  • Promote the practical application of scholarship in health policy.

“Our Center is committed to generating the evidence needed to inform policymakers, front-line service providers, patient advocates, and other stakeholders about strategies to improve the health and wellbeing of communities across New Jersey and beyond.”

Joel Cantor, ScD
Director, Center for State Health Policy
Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Our Research

Center faculty and staff are actively engaged in a number of research projects and collaborations addressing the health and well-being of New Jersey’s vibrant and diverse communities.

How We Work

The Center engages in projects that are consistent with its mission of informing, supporting, and stimulating sound and creative state health policy in New Jersey and around the nation.

To achieve this mission, the Center limits its engagement to projects that meet the following criteria:

  • The project will provide impartial information that has a high likelihood of being useful in health policy formation, implementation or evaluation or would otherwise advance important, generalizable knowledge about health and healthcare services.
  • The Center has the capacity and resources (e.g., datasets) to conduct the project with a high level of scientific rigor and expertise.

Core Members

Joel Cantor

Joel C. Cantor, ScD

Director, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Margaret Koller

Margaret Koller, MS

Executive Director, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Erica Eliason, PhD, MPH

Core Member, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

David M. Frankford, JD

Associate Member, Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research

Ann Nguyen

Ann M. Nguyen, PhD, MPH

Associate Research Professor and Implementation Scientist, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

John Palatucci

John Palatucci, PhD, MPA

Assistant Research Professor, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Mara Sheftel

Mara Getz Sheftel, PhD

Core Member, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Amanda Spishak Thomas

Mandi Spishak-Thomas, PhD, MSW, LCSW

Assistant Research Professor, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Dan Treglia, PhD, MPP

Core Member, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Research Staff

Jose Nova, MS

Associate Director of Data & Analytics, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Kate Scotto

Kate Scotto

Associate Director of Research Administration, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Manisha Agrawal

Manisha Agrawal, MPH

Senior Research Analyst, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Dina Belloff, MA

Research Project Manager, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Jolene Chou

Jolene Chou, MPH

Senior Research Analyst, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Jennifer Farnham, MS

Research Manager, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Yasmeen Khellah, MPH, CPH

Oliver Lontok, MD, MPH

Senior Research Manager, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Josh Lue

Joshua Lue, MPH

Data Analyst, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Mojdeh Nasiri

Research Analyst, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Allison Oh, MPH

Research Coordinator, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

asian woman with short dark hair

Lifang Pan, PhD

Data Analyst, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Julian Rodriguez

Julian Rodriguez

Research Data Analyst, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Jonathan Whitmore

Data Analyst, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Jacob Yun

Jacob Yun

Data Analyst, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Administrative Staff

Joe Brecht

Joseph Brecht, MCM

Communications Manager, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Angelina Lowder

Angelina Lowder, MHA

Executive Assistant, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

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