Darius Lakdawalla

Biography

Darius Lakdawalla is a widely published, award-winning researcher and a leading authority in both health economics and health policy. Dr. Lakdawalla also holds the Quintiles Chair in Pharmaceutical Development and Regulatory Innovation at the University of Southern California, where he sits on the faculties of the School of Pharmacy, the Sol Price School of Public Policy, and the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, one of the nation’s premier health policy research centers.

His research has focused primarily on the economics of risks to health, the value and determinants of medical innovation, the economics of health insurance markets, and the industrial organization of healthcare markets.

Dr. Lakdawalla received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago and his Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Amherst College. His work has been published in leading journals of economics, medicine, and health policy.

Dr. Lakdawalla is currently a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Associate Editor for the Review of Economics and Statistics, The American Journal of Health Economics, and The Journal of Health Economics. He is also an Editorial Board Member at the American Journal of Managed Care: Evidence-Based Diabetes and the American Journal of Managed Care: Evidence-Based Oncology.

Selected Publications

• Bauer, D., Lakdawalla, D., & Reif, J. (2025). Health risk and the value of life. Journal of Public Economics, 245, 105346.
• Gracner, T., Chaturvedi, R., Nguyen, P., Heun‐Johnson, H., Tysinger, B., Goldman, D., & Lakdawalla, D. (2025). The burden of cognitive impairment. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 21(8).
• Sexton Ward, A., Trish, E., Goldman, D., & Lakdawalla, D. (2025). Proposal for a Value-Based Agreement to Reimburse Anti-Obesity Medicines in Traditional Medicare. MED RX  IV.