Center for Health Policy

The Health Policy Institute is a multi-disciplinary group of faculty and staff dedicated to conducting research on key issues in health policy and health services research. Institute members are engaged in a wide diversity of projects, focusing on issues relating to health care financing, the uninsured, federal health insurance reforms, quality of care and outcomes research, mental health services research, and the impact of changes in the health care market on providers and patients.

The Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, established in 2009 at the University of Southern California through a generous gift from Leonard and Pamela Schaeffer, reflects Mr. Schaeffer’s lifelong commitment to solving healthcare issues and transforming the healthcare system.Our vision is to be a premier research institution recognized for innovative, independent research that makes significant contributions to policy and health improvement. With an extraordinary breadth and depth of expertise, the Schaeffer Center has a vital impact on the positive transformation of healthcare. At the Schaeffer Center, we offer the human and technical capacity necessary to conduct breakthrough interdisciplinary research, exceptional policy analysis and leading-edge training, with more than 50 distinguished scholars investigating a wide array of topics. Our work is augmented by a visiting scholars program and partnerships with other universities that allow outside researchers to benefit from our unparalleled infrastructure and data collections. The Schaeffer Center actively engages in developing excellent research skills in new investigators who can become innovators of the future. At the same time, we support the next generation of healthcare leaders in creating strong management, team-building and communication skills.

The mission of our Center is to improve health of individuals and communities, locally, nationally, and internationally, by addressing health inequities through interdisciplinary policy-relevant research, interventions, and evaluations.

The Robert J. Margolis, MD, Center for Health Policy was established in January 2016 with a $16.5 million gift from Duke medical school alumnus Robert J. Margolis and his wife Lisa, through the Robert and Lisa Margolis Family Foundation. Duke-Margolis catalyzes Duke University's leading capabilities including interdisciplinary academic research and capacity for education and engagement, to inform policy making and implementation for better health and health care.Duke-Margolis partners with funders and experts in healthcare policy and practice from around the world and is advised by an accomplished board of healthcare leaders representing academia, patients, policy research, payers, and providers. The Center has offices and staff on Duke University’s campus in Durham, North Carolina and at the Duke in DC offices in the heart of the nation’s capital.