PEOPLE

Leadership

He is the author of numerous books, most recently including “You’re Hired!: Untold Successes and Failures of a Populist President” and “Side Effects and Complications: The Economic Consequences of Health Care Reform”

Professor Mulligan has also written numerous opeds and blog entries for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, the Chicago Tribune, blogsupplyanddemand.com, and other blogs and periodicals.

He is affiliated with a number of professional organizations, including the National Bureau of Economic Research, the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State, and the Population Research Center. He is also the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including those from the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Smith- Richardson Foundation, and the John M. Olin Foundation.

Professor Mulligan received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1993. He has also served as a visiting professor teaching public economics at Harvard University, Clemson University, and Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago.

Philipson has served in several public sector positions. He was a member and acting chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers 2017-2020. He served in the second Bush Administration as the senior economic advisor to the head of the Food and Drug Administration and subsequently as the senior economic advisor to the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He served as a health care advisor to Senator John McCain during his campaign for President of the United States. He was appointed by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives to the Key Indicator Commission created by the Affordable Care Act. He has served as a scientific advisor to Congress on the 21st Century Cures legislation and on the steering committee of Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moon Shot Initiative.

Philipson is a founding editor of the journal Forums for Health Economics & Policy of Berkeley Electronic Press and has been on the editorial board of the journal Health Economics and The European Journal of Health Economics. His research has been published widely in all leading academic journals of economics such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Health Economics, Health Affairs, and Econometrica. He is a monthly op-ed contributor for Forbes magazine and frequently appears in numerous popular media outlets such as CNN, CBS, FOX News, Bloomberg TV, National Public Radio, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, The Economist, Washington Post, Investor’s Business Daily, and USA Today and is a frequent keynote speaker at many domestic and international health care events and conferences.

Philipson is a fellow, board member, or associate of a number of other organizations outside the University of Chicago, including the National Bureau of Economic Research, the American Enterprise Institute, the Manhattan Institute (where he was chairman of Project FDA), the Heartland Institute, the Milken Institute, the RAND Corporation, and the USC Shaeffer Center for Health Economics and Policy. At the University of Chicago, he is affiliated with the John M. Olin Program of Law & Economics, the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State, the Population Research Center, and NORC. He has served on the University-wide Council on Research and on the Advisory Committee to the University’s Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer.

He received his MA and PhD in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has been a visiting faculty member at Yale University and a visiting senior fellow at the World Bank.

Sri Frazee is joining the Initiative on Enabling Choice and Competition in Healthcare as the Center Director.

In this role, she oversees the finances, leads the day-to-day operations and administration, program management, and providing support and oversight for the research team. She brings over 14 years of working experience in the higher education sector, including managing budget and finances for multiple divisions and units, projects and programs, personnel, special events, and facility management, and pre- and post-award management.

Prior to her current role, Sri was the Business Manager and Fiscal Officer at the Indiana University School of Medicine Pediatrics and Indiana University Public Policy Institute. She has also previously worked as the Manager of Budget and Operations for Valparaiso University. Sri holds a master’s degree in International Commerce and Policy from Valparaiso University.

ECCHC Research Team

Attaullah Abbasi, MPP Candidate (RA 2023 – present) holds a BS in Economics and Mathematics from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, and has a four-year tenure at the State Bank of Pakistan, the country’s central bank. He has researched labor market trends, tech startups, the livestock sector, and demographic challenges.

Additionally, Atta has contributed to studies on trade organizations and inflation, with these reports undergoing thorough reviews before being published for the country’s legislative bodies and the public. He is currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy at the Harris School of Public Policy. He was part of the research team on project titled COVID-19 Biopharmaceutical Innovation and Industry Appropriation.

Kira Fujibayashi, MS Candidate (RA 2023 – present) is a graduate student in the computer science department. She earned her BS in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to starting graduate school, she was a senior consultant within Deloitte’s Government and Public Service practice, specializing in data science for public and federal health clients and internally at Deloitte’s Health Equity Institute. Her research interests include the intersection of public health and data science, particularly ensuring ethical approaches of machine learning solutions to enhance health outcomes. She was a member of the research team for the “COVID-19 Biopharmaceutical Innovation and Industry Appropriation.”

Outside of school and work, Kira enjoys cooking, going on long walks between coffee shops, reading, and traveling with her family. 

Susu Guo, MPP Candidate (RA 2023 – present) is a Master of Public Policy student with a specialization in Health Policy and Economic Policy at the Harris School of Public Policy. She earned her BA in Economics and Sociology from Boston College. Susu has served as a Research Assistant and a Research Fellow at Boston College and contributed to National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Health (NIH)-funded research projects. Additionally, she has worked for a health consulting firm helping design market strategies for pharmaceutical companies, focusing on mental-health treatments and digital therapeutics. She was a member of the research team for project titled COVID-19 Biopharmaceutical Innovation and Industry Appropriation.

Outside of school and work, Susu enjoys photography, art-house films, detective fiction, and exploring the city.

Heather Johnson, MPP Candidate (RA 2024 – present) is a Master of Public Policy student at the Harris School of Public Policy. She completed her undergraduate studies at Chapman University with a BA in Economics and a minor in History. While at Chapman, she worked as a Research Assistant and was mentored by Professor James Doti. In the 2023 academic year, Heather served as a graduate assistant for the Institute of Politics. Since June 2024, she has been serving as a Research Assistant at the Initiative on Enabling Choice and Competition in Healthcare.

Outside of school and work, Heather enjoys spending time with family, baking, working out, and crafting.

Aarushi Kataria, MPP (RA 2023 – present) is a Master of Public Policy graduate with certificates in International Development & Policy and Finance & Policy at the Harris School of Public Policy. She completed her undergraduate studies from Ashoka University in India with a double major equivalent in Economic and Political Science. Aarushi has served as a Research Assistant at the Initiative on Enabling Choice and Competition in Healthcare since April 2023. She was part of the research team on projects titled Evaluating the Economic Impact of CMS Coverage Delays for New Alzheimer’s Drugs, The Value of Accelerated Medical Device Reimbursement. and COVID-19 Biopharmaceutical Innovation and Industry Appropriation.

She is a Mayoral Fellow at the City of Chicago where she works on policy with a focus on workers’ rights and economic vitality. She also runs a non-profit in India called Letters to Strangers + India that is working towards destigmatizing mental health and increasing access to affordable and quality resources.

Outside of school and work, Aarushi loves exploring the food scene in Chicago, reading, and writing poetry.

Qi Zhao, MPP Candidate (RA 2023 – 2024) is currently in her first year of a Master of Science in Computational Analysis and Public Policy at the Harris School of Public Policy. She has completed her PhD in Public Administration from Peking University and served in several positions, including lecturer, research fellow, post-doctoral researcher, and project manager at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing. 

She excels in both quantitative and qualitative policy analysis and has also published several peer-reviewed papers and presented at the APSA Global Annual Meeting. She also possesses extensive experience in project management and data analysis, serving as both a team leader and data analyst for multiple consulting reports. These reports, commissioned by various local governments in China, address critical issues such as compulsory education, ecological environmental protection, elderly care services and digital transformation. She was part of the ECCHC research team for project titled COVID-19 Biopharmaceutical Innovation and Industry Appropriation

Qi enjoys puzzles, Lego, climbing, and exploring sweet foods outside academia and work.

RA Alumni

Yier Ling, MA
(RA 2022, Data Analyst 2022-2024)

Medha Yadav, MS
(RA 2022)

Additional Support

Madisson Younglove | Web Support
Communications Manager for the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago