Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics

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High Demand, Real Impact

A partnership between the USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the USC Price School of Public Policy, the Schaeffer Center brings together health policy experts, seasoned pharmacoeconomics specialists and faculty across USC and other leading institutions to solve pressing challenges in healthcare. 

Established in 2009, the center offers data-driven solutions for improving the value of healthcare and expanding its reach. Lawmakers, community leaders, industry executives and journalists turn to the center for unbiased, evidence-based answers about urgent health challenges. The center produces approximately 20 events each year that move forward the conversation on topics ranging from biopharmaceutical innovation to insurance market reforms. Center scholars author an average of 100 papers annually, more than half of which are published in top-tier journals.

Learn More

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Faculty in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics are based at the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, one of the nation’s leading centers for innovative, independent research that makes significant contributions to policy and health improvement. Our mission is to measurably improve value in health through evidence-based policy solutions, research excellence, and private- and public-sector engagement. Students are active participants in this vibrant environment, which challenges and mentors them in finding novel approaches to urgent healthcare problems. The department’s degree programs are greatly enriched by the interdisciplinary faculty and researchers of the Schaeffer Center, whose expertise spans public policy, pharmacoeconomics, healthcare management and more.

Department Chair Geoffrey Joyce
USC is a research-oriented university with great faculty and resources, and it values entrepreneurial and innovative thinking. One of the unique aspects of our department is that it’s housed in the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, so we have a really talented group of economists, social scientists and physicians studying a wide range of health policy and economic issues.

GEOFFREY JOYCE, PHD

chair, Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics​

The department’s mission includes:

Meet the Faculty

Erin Trish Faculty Headshot

Erin Trish, PhD

Health economist focusing on the intersection of public policy and healthcare markets
Seth Seabury, PhD

Seth Seabury, PhD

Seth Seabury is an expert in the impact of health on productivity and the law impact delivery of care and patient outcomes.
John A. Romley, PhD

John A. Romley, PhD

John Romley is an expert in health care costs, public health, and health insurance markets and benefits design.
Bill Padulla Faculty Headshot

William Padula, PhD

Expert in health economics, cost-effectiveness analysis, health services research and quality improvement

Darius N. Lakdawalla, PhD

Darius Lakdawalla is a widely published, award-winning researcher and a leading authority in both health economics and health policy.
Geoffrey Joyce, PhD

Geoffrey Joyce, PhD

Geoffrey Joyce is an expert in health care economics, including the impact of Medicare Part D, drug benefit design and costs of disease.

Department News

John Stofko, MPH, MBA has joined the faculty as associate professor in the department of pharmaceutical and health economics, effective August 16.
Erin Trish, PhD is principal investigator on a $3.6 million project that will study five interrelated areas to inform the policy debate around provider prices and the growing cost of healthcare.