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Marcella Alsan Photo
Angelopoulos Professor of Public Policy
Assistant: M. Derya Honca
617-495-1923

Marcella Alsan is a Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Alsan received a BA from Harvard University, a master’s in public health from Harvard School of Public Health, a MD from Loyola University, and a PhD in Economics from Harvard University. Alsan trained at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Hiatt Global Health Equity Residency Fellowship – then combined the PhD with an Infectious Disease Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to returning to Harvard she was on faculty at Stanford. She is an applied microeconomist studying health inequality. 

Some recent papers include “Does Diversity Matter for Health: Experimental Evidence from Oakland” and “Tuskegee and the Health of Black Men” – published in the American Economic Review and The Quarterly Journal of Economics, respectively, and a series of papers on messaging during COVID-19 published in medical and public health outlets. She is currently on the Board of Editors for Science Magazine, Co-Editor of the Journal of Health Economics and Co-Chair of the Health Care Delivery Initiative of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab based out of MIT. She is the co-recipient of the 2019 Arrow Award for Best Paper in Health Economics, the 2021 William G. Manning Memorial Award for the Best Research in Health Econometrics and recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.

Transparent Engagement 

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Outside Professional Activities For Marcella Alsan

Organization Relationship
National Academies Membership on a scientific or other advisory board
MacArthur Fellowship Prizes or awards
NBER Research or teaching appointment
JPAL Membership on a scientific or other advisory board

Contact

Assistant: M. Derya Honca

Expertise

Health
Fairness & Justice

Mailing Address

Harvard Kennedy School
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138