Wendy Max, PhD

Wendy Max, Ph.D. is Professor of Health Economics and Co-Director of the Institute for Health & Aging at the University of California, San Francisco. She has been on the faculty at UCSF since 1987. Dr. Max holds a PhD in economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her recent research has focused on modeling the economic impact of tobacco on healthcare expenditures. She has estimated national costs of smoking; costs to Medicare, Medicaid, and private payers; costs in California; and the impact on communities of color. She is currently developing models of the impact of secondhand exposure on healthcare expenditures in California and the US. Her other current projects include evaluating an integrated primary healthcare program in rural Malawi and looking at the economic impact of hurricane Katrina on the primary healthcare safety net in New Orleans. Dr. Max has also conducted studies related to the economic impact of Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and injuries.