-
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- Harvard Business School
- Harvard Medical School
- Harvard School of Public Health
- John F. Kennedy School of Government
The faculty chair of the program is Joseph P. Newhouse, John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard University and Joan Curhan is the Director of the Ph.D. program. While approximately one hundred faculty members from schools within the university are actively involved in the program, key Decision Science faculty include
- Milton C. Weinstein, director of the decision science track
- Sue J. Goldie
- G. Scott Gazelle
- James K. Hammitt
- Jane J. Kim
- Lisa A. Prosser
-
Joshua A. Salomon
Within health policy, students choose to specialize in one of the following seven concentrations or disciplines:
- decision sciences
- economics
- ethics
- evaluative science and statistics
- management
- medical sociology
- political analysis
Decision Science
Decision science is the collection of quantitative techniques that are used for decision-making at the individual and collective level. They include decision analysis, risk analysis, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, decision modeling, and behavioral decision theory, as well as parts of operations research, microeconomics, statistical inference, management control, cognitive and social psychology, and computer science. The concentration in decision science prepares students for research careers that involve the application of these methods to health problems. Examples of research topics in health decision science include: cost-effectiveness analysis of medical technologies; risk-benefit analysis of advanced airbag designs; measurement and evaluation of health outcomes, including quality of life; comparative risk analysis of alternative fuels for motor vehicles; policy simulation modeling of diseases such as coronary heart disease and AIDS; and optimal resource allocation for biomedical research.
Examples of research topics in health decision science include:
- costs-effectiveness analysis of medical technologies and pharmaceuticals
- optimal screening policies for cancer and other chronic diseases
- measurements and evaluation of health outcomes, including quality of life
- policy simulation modeling of diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, cancer, and asthma
- optimal resource allocation for biomedical research
- risk-benefit analysis of food safety regulations
- benefit-cost analysis on environmental regulations
- comparative risk analysis of alternative fuels for motor vehicles