2026 International Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research
SPHIS students presented a wide range of research addressing critical public health challenges, from healthcare costs and access to maternal health and vaccination outcomes at the 2026 International Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Conference in Philadelphia in May.
Research topics reflected pressing issues in health policy and population health, including cost-effectiveness of treatments, healthcare utilization and disparities in access to care.
Dept. of Health Management and Systems Sciences doctoral candidate presentations included:
- Mohadese Alizadeh presented, "Regional Disparities in Opioid Use Disorder and Treatment Access During Pregnancy Among Kentucky Medicaid Beneficiaries."
- Nawaf Albaqami presented, "Emergency General Surgery Outcomes at Critical Access Hospitals Compared with Rural Non-Critical Access and Urban Hospitals in Kentucky (2016–2024)."
- Chandrima Chatterjee, MPH, BDS, presented a poster titled "Cost-effectiveness of Postpartum Depression Screening in the United States."
- Anika Mehta presented "Analysing the Impact of Shared Decision Making amongst Cancer Patients on Total Medical Expenditure by Payer Type and Number of Emergency Visits."
- Yathreb Bayan Mohamed, PharmD, MBA, presented: "Cost-Effectiveness of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Versus SGLT2 Inhibitors for Cardiovascular Protection Among U.S. Adults with Diabetes: A MEPS-Based Economic Evaluation 2022."
- Mana Moghadami presented, "Demographic Disparities in HPV Vaccine Initiation Among Kentucky Medicaid Beneficiaries."
- Melody Ucho, M.Sc., presented, "Cost-Effectiveness of WIC Eligibility Extension in Preventing Maternal Postpartum Depression from US Payers' Perspective."
- Hamid Zarei presented, "The non-linear drivers behind HPV vaccine completion among Medicaid children in Kentucky."
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Online Learning Podcast Featuring Lee Bewley
The United States has spent over $5.3 trillion in healthcare costs. Despite that, healthcare organizations around the world face increased financial strain. How do healthcare organizations effectively manage the complexities involved in delivering healthcare to their patient populations? To explore these topics further, this episode of UofL Online Learning's podcast features Lee Bewley, PhD, Program Director for the University of Louisville's online Master of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) program. Listen
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Melissa Eggen, PhD, MHP, HMSS Assistant Professor, has been awarded a one year, $10,000 grant from the Academic Pediatric Association. Her research will explore patient and health system barriers for the use of donor human milk for preterm neonates in the NICU. She will collaborate on this project with local mentor, Deborah Winders Davis, PhD, Professor, UofL Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine. Learn more about the award
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Doctoral candidate Chandrima Chatterjee, placed first in the Three-Minute Thesis Student Epidemiology Methods Awards at the 2026 Kentucky Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Covington, Kentucky. Her presentation, "Documentation of Domestic Violence at the Time of Childbirth: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Kentucky Hospital Discharge Data" examined patterns of domestic violence documentation during childbirth hospitalizations using Kentucky statewide hospital discharge data. It highlights the important implications for maternal health surveillance, screening practices and healthcare system response. Melissa Eggen, PhD, MHP, HMSS Assistant Professor, Sara Choate, PhD, MSEd, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, and Brian Schaefer, PhD, MS, Associate Professor, Dept. of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, helped guide the research and served as co-authors.
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Doctoral candidate Yathreb Bayan Mohamed, PharmD, MBA, and Seyed Karimi, PhD, Associate Professor and HMSS Interim Chair, published an article in Frontiers in Public Health titled, "A comprehensive review of HPV vaccination policies in the United States." They found Medicaid expansion, pharmacist vaccination authority, and well-enforced school-entry requirements were consistently associated with higher HPV vaccine initiation or completion, while policies with permissive exemptions or weak enforcement demonstrated limited impact. Additionally, financing mechanisms such as universal and selective vaccine purchase programs reduced cost barriers but showed inconsistent effects on uptake when implemented in isolation. Read More