Professor of Epidemiology and Health Policy Research
College of Medicine
2006 Awardee
Elizabeth Shenkman has spent her career ensuring that children are treated fairly and effectively in our health-care system.
“The health and well-being of children and youth is vital to securing a positive future for the nation,” says Shenkman, director of UF’s Institute for Child Health Policy. “Our goal is to develop and apply scientific knowledge that will promote health, improve health-related outcomes, deliver quality care and inform health policy decisions related to children and youth.”
In particular, Shenkman has looked at how the health-care systems works for minorities and those with complex chronic conditions.
“Through my research, and in collaboration with a multidisciplinary research team comprised of physicians, economists, psychologists, and health services researchers, I have identified health plan organizational characteristics, such as the use of financial incentives and the composition of the physician primary care network, that are highly predictive of access to specialty care for low-income chronically ill children,” says Shenkman.
Papers from Shenkman’s research projects have been published in the three most prestigious journals of her field: Health Services Research, Health Affairs, and Pediatrics.