Jessica Cohen

Jessica Cohen is the Bruce A. Beal, Robert L. Beal and Alexander S. Beal Associate Professor of Global Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She serves on the Standing Committee on Global Health and Health Policy (2023-2024) and focuses on interdisciplinary research addressing maternal and child health, healthcare access disparities, and the application of behavioral economics to healthcare systems. Her work spans multiple countries, including Kenya, Uganda, India, and Zambia, and emphasizes evidence-based interventions for improving healthcare quality and equity.

Her research interests include maternal health policies, telemedicine adoption in postpartum care, cost-effectiveness of malaria treatments, and sociodemographic factors influencing healthcare outcomes. She employs randomized controlled trials, qualitative assessments, and quasi-experimental designs to evaluate interventions such as digital health platforms in sub-Saharan Africa and telehealth cost-saving strategies in high-income settings. Recent studies have also explored the impact of Medicaid reimbursement policies on contraceptive access and infant health outcomes in the U.S.

While no scientific awards are explicitly listed, her contributions to global health research have been published in prominent journals and address critical gaps in postpartum care quality and affordability. Her research teams collaborate with institutions in low- and middle-income countries to design scalable solutions for healthcare challenges, such as improving light infrastructure in maternity facilities and assessing the ripple effects of immunization campaigns.

Her work on postpartum care transitions, healthcare provider decision-making, and the interplay between socioeconomic status and medical outcomes underscores her commitment to bridging clinical practice and public health policy. Jessica Cohen’s studies often highlight actionable insights for policymakers, such as the role of default scheduling in reducing care gaps for high-risk patients and the economic implications of antibiotic overprescribing in children under five.