Research Overview
Health Policy, Economics and Health Services Research
Heather Taffet Gold, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Policy in the Department of Public Health at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Her research aims to understand health and economic implications of suboptimal cancer treatment, given that care provided in the community is different than that given in clinical trials. She evaluates large, population-based databases to assess treatment at the community level using econometric models to overcome selection bias; conducts cost-effectiveness analyses using population-based data as much as possible; and studies how treatment decisions are made that might lead to suboptimal care. Dr. Gold's major research projects include: Principal Investigator, Disparities in Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer and DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), funded through 2008 (American Cancer Society); Principal Investiagor, New Breast Cancer Radiotherapy Technology: Impact on Disparities in Access (American Cancer Society); Co-Investigator, Economics Core of Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (Medical Devices) to Weill Cornell Medical College, funded through 2011 (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AI Mushlin, PI); Co-Investigator, Long-term Survivorship in Older Women with Early Stage Breast Cancer (BOW II), funded through 2011 (National Cancer Institute, RA Silliman, PI); Consultant, Cost-Effectiveness of Treatments for DCIS (National Cancer Institute).
