Michigan Ross Professor Sarah Miller Earns Important Health Economics Honor
The American Society of Health Economists has awarded its prestigious ASHEcon Medal to Sarah Miller, an assistant professor of business economics and public policy at the Ross School of Business.
The society presents the medal to “an economist age 40 or under who has made the most significant contributions to the field of health economics.”
According to a statement on the ASHEcon website, “Over the past decade, Professor Miller’s research program has dramatically changed our understanding of the impacts of health insurance coverage on health, and the role of health insurance in protection against financial risk. A major theme in Professor Miller’s work is creatively employing existing data to provide new insights on important research questions. She is bold and ambitious in her research endeavors, which often leads her to new opportunities to make major contributions. An example is a newly published study providing the first causal evidence on the relationship between gestation limits for abortion and women’s financial health. This study was made possible by a unique collaboration initiated by Professor Miller that extends an important public health study with new data and methods from economics.”
With this body of work she has set the standard for what an empirical health economist should be doing.
The statement continues, “Professor Miller also goes out of her way to be helpful to other researchers — often recommending valuable extensions to their work, ways to address potential limitations, and thoughts about alternative data sources or approaches. She is never critical without being constructive, which is a unique and exemplary trait in our profession. She is an amazing ‘clubhouse presence’ for the entire profession and serves as a positive role model for the up and coming generation of health economists.”
Miller said of the medal, “I'm deeply honored to win this award. It's very exciting to see the research I've conducted over the past ten years be recognized in this way by the American Society of Health Economists. It also makes me feel very grateful for all of the support and encouragement I've received during my career from my colleagues, mentors, and coauthors.”
The award will be presented at ASHEcon’s annual conference in June.
