Julie M. Zissimopoulos

Julie M. Zissimopoulos is a Professor at the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, and Senior Scholar at the Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government. She leads major initiatives including the USC Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease Related Dementia Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) and CeASES ADRD, funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). Her research focuses on economics of aging, health economics, and disparities in dementia care. She holds leadership roles in Alzheimer’s policy, including editing the Health Policy and Caregiving section of Alzheimer’s & Dementia journal and co-chairing national dementia research summits.

Dr. Zissimopoulos earned a B.A. summa cum laude from Boston College, an M.A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from UCLA. Her work examines dementia costs, pharmaceutical treatments for chronic diseases, and insurance design impacts. She has been recognized with the USC Price High Impact Research Award (2024) for her dementia research.

• Education:
  • B.A. Boston College (summa cum laude)
  • M.A. Columbia University
  • Ph.D. in Economics, UCLA
• Affiliations:
  • Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government
  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committees

Her research highlights include analyzing Medicare Advantage vs. traditional Medicare disparities, dementia diagnosis trends, and the economic burden of caregiving. She has published in high-impact journals like JAMA Neurology and Health Affairs, with media coverage in the New York Times and NPR.

Recent grants include NIA-funded projects on dementia cost estimation and minority aging research. She advises on federal policy reforms to expand dementia care access and reduce health inequities.