Department of Health Policy

Professors from the schools of Medicine, Public Health and Social Work earn support for disease-agnostic projects that have the potential to be applied across different fields of medicine to help patients. Four interdisciplinary research projects earned a total of $100,000 in translational science grants from the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational […]

Healthcare Policy and Research Ph.D. student, Akpene Tetteh, M.S., passed away unexpectedly on February 12, 2026.  A native of Ghana and a truly exceptional student, Akpene Tetteh, M.S., was on track to complete her Ph.D. this summer, in an unprecedented three years. The Department of Health Policy and School of Public Health are heartbroken by the sudden […]

Health Policy students in the VCU Public Health Student Association partnered with Virginia Public Health Association to support public health legislation.  The VCU School of Public Health (SOPH) leveraged its proximity to the Virginia State Capitol this winter when Healthcare Policy and Research Ph.D. students and members of the VCU Public Health Student Association (PHSA) organized a joint Legislative Day with […]

Based in the School of Public Health, the center’s research will help policymakers address issues related to health care access, quality and cost for members of Medicaid. The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Public Health has established the Office of Medicaid Evaluation (OME) to more formally provide analysis and guidance on state and federal Medicaid programs. The OME officially […]

Rural communities are particularly hard-hit, and the research could point to workforce initiatives. Nearly half of Virginia’s neighborhoods don’t have enough nearby primary care physicians for their residents, with rural communities being hit hardest by workforce shortages, according to a new study led by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Using anonymized health care claims data, […]

The Department of Health Policy recently prepared an evaluation report for the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) that examined the effects of the expanded Medicaid Adult Dental Benefit on Emergency Department utilization in Virginia hospitals for non-traumatic dental visits. Presented to DMAS in March 2025, the report was authored by Department of Health […]

On Tuesday, February 25, Vimbai Dihwa, a Ph.D. student, received the Black History in the Making award from VCU’s Department of African American Studies. The award, established in 1983 by Daryl Dance, Ph.D. to honor the achievements of African American students, has recognized over 550 students since then, with 62 more added this week. Dihwa, a student […]

Vimbai Dihwa is a Ph.D. candidate in the Healthcare Policy & Research program in the Department of Health Policy. She received both her Bachelor’s Degree, in Biology with a Chemistry minor, and her Master of Business Administration from Rosemont College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. However, she originally comes from Zimbabwe and completed high school in […]

Applications are now open for the VCU School of Public Health’s Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) in Health Policy. By Hannah Wente, originally published at VCU School Of Public Health Blog This fall, students in the School of Public Health’s M.P.H. program will have the chance to choose a new concentration –  health policy.  The […]

For a new article published by Health Services Research, several VCU Department of Health Policy faculty members, students, and alums collaborated with other faculty from the VCU School Of Public Health and several officials from the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) to examine the relationships between healthcare use and food and housing insecurity […]