CHIBEblog

Jan 15 2021
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Victor Lei headshot

CHIBE Q&A: Victor Lei, PharmD, MSHP

By CHIBEblog

Learn more about Victor Lei, PharmD, MSHP, a Senior Research Scientist at CHIBE. What projects are you working on these days? I work under Amol Navathe, MD, PhD, where my main effort is currently focused on helping a collaborator (Hawaii Medical Service Association) understand their high cost member populations to develop new care models and interventions. Over the past few months, we have been particularly interested in patients with serious illnesses (i.e. conditions that have high risk of mortality and either negatively impacts a patient’s daily function or quality of life). We believe such patients would benefit from earlier palliative…

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Jan 14 2021
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sandy vanderslice

In Memoriam: Sandy Vanderslice

By CHIBEblog

CHIBE would like to remember our beloved friend and colleague Sandra Vanderslice. Sandy was an integral member of our community, who never hesitated to help others. While Sandy was a superb employee for us since 2017, she was much more than that to us. She filled a special role within our department — she was someone who was always available to provide sage advice or a friendly smile. She provided levity when needed, comfort when it was sought, and a sense of camaraderie to pull us together as a team. Here you’ll find messages from our Center about our dear…

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Jan 11 2021
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Scott Halpern Elected Hastings Center Fellow

By CHIBEblog

Congratulations to Scott Halpern, MD, PhD, MBE, John M. Eisenberg Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, who has been elected as a new Hastings Center fellow. Dr. Halpern joins more than 200 fellows whose work has “informed scholarship and public understanding of complex ethical issues in health, health care, science, and technology.” According to the Hastings Center website, the fellows’ “common distinguishing feature is uncommon insight and impact in areas of critical concern to the Center–how best to understand and manage the inevitable values questions, moral uncertainties, and societal effects that…

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Dec 22 2020
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year in review

CHIBE’s Year in Review: 2020

By CHIBEblog

In 2020, CHIBE members used behavioral science to… *in no particular order* 1. Establish a first-of-its-kind nudge unit focused on HIV prevention in South Africa. Learn more about Indlela: Behavioural Insights for Better Health, which is developing and testing behavioral solutions that increase uptake of HIV testing, linkage to HIV care, and re-engagement in HIV care, with funding from the Gates Foundation. 2. Conduct the largest-ever study examining how text communications can boost vaccine uptake. The Penn Medicine Nudge Unit and Wharton’s Behavior Change for Good Initiative (both of which include several CHIBE leaders and affiliated faculty members) have partnered…

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Dec 11 2020
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CHIBE Leadership Additions and Promotions

By CHIBEblog

The past year has been a great period of productivity and impact for CHIBE. Our Center has made some changes to  the CHIBE leadership team to further strengthen our center and to bring emerging leaders on to the team. Alison Buttenheim, PhD, MBA, will take on a new leadership role as CHIBE’s Scientific Director. Dr. Buttenheim is an Associate Professor and Silverstein Chair in Global Women’s Health at the School of Nursing, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine. She is also the Director of Engagement at the…

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Dec 11 2020
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CHIBE Q&A with Rachel Nugent, PhD

By CHIBEblog

Learn more about CHIBE’s newest External Advisory Boardmember Rachel Nugent, PhD, Vice President and Director of Global Noncommunicable Diseases, RTI International. What made you want to be a part of CHIBE’s external advisory board? I was pleased to be invited to join CHIBE’s external advisory board largely because of the high impact that CHIBE has demonstrated in influencing public policy through strong economic evidence, and also to bring that kind of rigorous economic analysis to lower-resourced countries that have many similar health challenges as the United States, but don’t have the behavioral economic training and skills to find innovative ways…

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Dec 10 2020
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Emily Oster, Tali Sharot, Richard Thaler

CHIBE Hosts 2020 Behavioral Science & Health Symposium

By CHIBEblog

Healthy eating, CEO aging and death, handwashing habits, and behavioral responses to COVID-19 testing were just a few of the varied topics discussed at the 10th annual Behavioral Science and Health Symposium held virtually this year December 3-4, 2020. Each year, the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) symposium brings together top researchers and clinicians from around the country and the globe to discuss their latest research, develop new collaborations, and exchange ideas. This year’s event featured two keynote presentations: Emily Oster, PhD, Professor of Economics at Brown University, spoke with us about selection and…

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Dec 10 2020
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richard thaler

Q&A with Richard Thaler, PhD

By CHIBEblog

What’s one common misconception about the field of behavioral economics that Richard Thaler, PhD, often tries to dispel? “That behavioral economists think that people are dumb. We don’t. We think the world is hard,” he said in our interview with him this December. The University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics’ (CHIBE) hosted its 10th annual Behavioral Science and Health Symposium December 3-4, 2020, and the symposium’s final session was a thought leader interview with Dr. Thaler, the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the Chicago Booth School of Business, and…

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Nov 20 2020
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Roberto Gibson

Team to Evaluate Health Outcomes Following Philly Beverage Tax

By CHIBEblog

Congratulations to CHIBE Associate Director Christina Roberto, PhD, and CHIBE-affiliated faculty member Laura Gibson, PhD, who have received an NIH R01 to continue their research evaluating the Philadelphia beverage tax. While there is evidence that taxes on sugary-sweetened beverages can lead to drops in purchases of these drinks, there is still a need to find out if this policy can lead to improvements in health outcomes, such as weight, type 2 diabetes status, and oral health. Their specific aims, according to their project summary, are to: “Evaluate the effectiveness of a sugar-sweetened beverage tax on preventing weight gain among youth…

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Nov 10 2020
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Rachel Werner headshot

Dr. Werner Appointed to NASEM Committee on Quality of Care in Nursing Homes

By CHIBEblog

Congratulations to CHIBE Internal Advisory Board member Rachel Werner, MD, PhD, who has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) Committee on the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes. According to NASEM’s website, this committee will “examine how our nation delivers, regulates, finances and measures quality of nursing home care, including the long-standing challenges brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Read more on the NASEM website or LDI’s coverage.

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Find out how CHIBE faculty are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic