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The Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE), housed within the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine, is the leading scientific organization using behavioral economics to improve health and advance health equity worldwide.
Drawing on the expertise of faculty from across the University of Pennsylvania and beyond, CHIBE conducts behavioral economics research aimed at reducing the burden of disease from major public health challenges, such as tobacco dependence, obesity, and medication non-adherence.
Our mission is to advance the science of applied behavioral economics in pursuit of knowledge, interventions, and policies that lead to higher-value health care, equal access to health care, and healthier lives for all.
CHIBE was originally founded in 2008 as part of the nation’s first health services research center, the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with faculty from the Center for Behavioral Decision Research at Carnegie Mellon University. CHIBE is one of the first research centers dedicated to the implementation of behavioral economic research in health.
In partnership with the Palliative and Advance Illness Research (PAIR) Center at the University of Pennsylvania, CHIBE supports the Fostering Improvement in End-of-Life Decision Science (FIELDS) Program. Additionally, CHIBE leads the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit together with the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation.
CHIBE researchers have received funding from several institutes within the National Institutes of Health, a variety of corporate partners, and foundations. Our Center has worked with a variety of individuals and groups, including health systems, payers, employers, consumer companies, governments, and communities.
Many CHIBE-affiliated faculty are involved in anti-racist, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. One group explicitly focused on this work is the Joint Research Practice (JRP), chartered by the leadership at CHIBE and the PAIR Center, the two Roybal Centers at Penn. The JRP jointly develops and disseminates best practices and guidelines for the conduct of inclusive and anti-racist research that advances the science and practice of health equity. The JRP’s work is evidence-based, community-informed, and programmatically focused with the aim of building digital resources and code of conduct detailing best practices for carrying out research at the two centers that embodies shared principles of racial justice, equity, and inclusion.
The guidelines will reflect best practices in: research team structure and composition; engagement with under-represented, underserved communities throughout the research process; participant eligibility, representativeness, recruitment, retention, and use of incentives; measurement and reporting of patient characteristics; treatment of race and ethnicity as variables; reporting of results and drawing inferences and conclusions about the “effect” of race/ethnicity; and dissemination of results.
JRP engages 12 passionate staff and faculty members seeking to make a difference. It is among the leading programs in academic institutes focused on fighting racism and promoting equitable research in health and health care.
