Dana Goldman, PhD
EIT Visiting Member
Co-Director, USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics
Dean, USC Price School of Public Policy
Distinguished Professor of Pharmacy, Public Policy and Economics
Dana P. Goldman is University Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy, and Economics at the University of Southern California and the Leonard D. Schaeffer Director of the USC Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service. He has led the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics since its inception, establishing it as one of the world’s premier health economics organizations (ranked 3rd globally among 2,700+ institutions). He previously served as Dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy from 2020 to 2024.
Dr. Goldman is the author of more than 350 articles and has been cited more than 23,000 times. He pioneered a “Netflix model” to improve access to treatment and the benefits of lower copayments for the chronically ill. He serves (or has served) as a health policy advisor to the Congressional Budget Office, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Covered California, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Institute, and GRAIL. He has been awarded more than $50 million in research funding from NIH. His research is regularly featured in outlets like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Stat, The Economist, NBC Nightly News, PBS NewsHour, CNN, NPR, and other media.
Dr. Goldman is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Social Insurance, and National Academy of Public Administration — three of his field’s highest honors. He is a past recipient of the USC Associates Award, Alice Hersh Emerging Leader Award, MetLife Silver Scholar Award, NIHCM Research Award, Robert Biller Award—among other distinctions. In 2024, USC appointed him a University Professor “for his decades of excellence as a policy leader and champion of interdisciplinary collaboration.”
Dr. Goldman is strongly committed to mentoring students and junior faculty. He was a founding director of USC’s Center for Minority Aging Research, funded by NIH, and he led it for 8 years. Past trainees include faculty at Stanford, Harvard, Duke, UCLA, UCSF, USC, Tufts, World Bank, University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt. He has received the USC Mellon Mentoring Award and several other teaching awards.
Dr. Goldman frequently engages with the private and non-profit sectors. He co-founded EntityRisk and Precision Health Economics, a consultancy sold in 2015. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Price Philanthropies and previously held the Distinguished Chair in Health Economics at RAND, where he directed the health economics program. He serves as a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, and research associate with the National Bureau for Economic Research.
He graduated B.A. summa cum laude from Cornell University and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.
Research Focus
Health Economics
Health Policy & Management
Public Policy
Education
BA
Economics (Summa cum Laude), Cornell University- 1988
PhD
Economics, Stanford University- 1994
Awards
- Member, National Academy of Social Insurance- 2018
- Inaugural Associate Member, Center for the Economics of Human Development- 2018
- Associates Award for Creativity in Research, University of Southern California- 2017
- Distinguished Professor, University of Southern California- 2016
- Robert Biller Outstanding Faculty Award, Price School of Public Policy- 2015
- USC Mellon Mentoring Award- 2012
- MetLife Foundation Silver Scholar Award- 2011
- Member, National Academy of Medicine- 2009
- Eugene Garfield Economic Impact of Medical and Health Research Award-2009
- Edwin E. Huddleson, Jr. Outstanding Teacher Award, RAND Graduate School-2006
- Annual Research Award, National Institute for Health Care Management-2002
- Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award, AcademyHealth- 2002
- Article of the Year, Association for Health Services Research-2000
- Stanford University Fellowship in Health Care Research and Health Policy-1993
- John M. Olin Fellowship for Research in Economic Policy-1992
- Summa Cum Laude with Distinction in All Subjects, Cornell University-1988
- Phi Beta Kappa, Cornell University-1988
- National Merit Scholar-1984
Leadership
- Leonard D. Schaeffer Director’s Chair and Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy, and Economics (Gerontology by courtesy)
- University of Southern California, 2013-Present
- ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Scientific Advisory Board, 2017-Present
- Nonresident Senior Fellow, Economic Studies Program, Brookings Institution, 2017-Present
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Institute, HICOR Advisory Board (Chair), 2013-Present
- Director, NIA Roybal Center for Health Policy Simulation, 2004-Present
- Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2002-Present
Selected Publications
Trish et al. “Who Pays in Medicare Part D? Giving Plans More Skin in the Game.” NEJM, forthcoming.
Goldman D, et al. “A New Model for Pricing Drugs of Uncertain Efficacy.” NEJM Catalyst, Published online December 13, 2018.
Dzau V, Ginsburg G, Van Nuys K, Goldman D. “Aligning incentives to fulfil the promise of personalized medicine.” The Lancet, 385(9982):2015-2120, May 6, 2015.
Goldman D, Philipson T. “Five myths about cancer care in America.” Health Affairs, 33(10):1801-4, 2014.
Goldman D, Cutler D, Rowe J, et al. “Substantial Health and Economic Returns From Delayed Aging May Warrant a New Focus For Medical Research.” Health Affairs, 32(10):1698-1705, 2013.
Lakdawalla D, Sun E, Jena A, Reyes C, Goldman D, Philipson T. “An Economic Evaluation of the War on Cancer.” Journal of Health Economics, 29(1):333-346, May 2010.
Goldman D, Joyce G, Zheng Y. “Prescription Drug Cost Sharing: Association With Medication and Medical Utilization and Spending and Health.” JAMA, 298(1):61-69, 2007.
Goldman D, Joyce G, Escarce J, Pace J, Solomon M, Laouri M, Landsman P, Teutsch S. “Pharmacy Benefits and The Use Of Drugs By The Chronically-Ill.” JAMA, 291(19):2344-50, 2004.
Goldman D, Berry S, McCabe M, et al. “The Incremental Costs of NCI-Sponsored Clinical Trials.” JAMA, 289(22):2970-2977, 2003.
Goldman D, Smith J. “Can Patient Self-Management Help Explain the SES Health Gradient?” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(16):10929-10934, 2002.