Zhehui Luo, MS, PhD, joined the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics as a tenure-track assistant professor in 2009. Dr. Luo has a PhD in economics (with an emphasis on health economics and econometrics) and an MS in statistics. She has extensive experience in epidemiological and health services research, collaborating with a broad range of investigators in a multidisciplinary environment.

Her knowledge of econometric and statistical techniques and interests in public health policy and intervention have led to studies of costs for cancer, health care disparity, of evaluation methodologies in estimating treatment effects in observational studies, and of cost-effectiveness methodologies. Her primary research interest is to develop and apply modern and appropriate econometric and statistical methods in policy analysis and program evaluation in trial-based and observational studies. She is currently developing new methodological approaches in comparative effectiveness research for heterogeneous treatment effects of pharmacotherapy and behavioral interventions. Her secondary research interest is the intersection of psychiatric epidemiology and behavioral economics, specifically to understand whether the behavioral economics principles apply in the treatment seeking behaviors of individuals with affective and substance dependence disorders and whether the competing neuro-behavioral decision systems model can inform the analysis of disparity in health due to socioeconomic status.

She has been involved in studies of improving cost-effectiveness methodology (Dr. Joseph Gardiner), estimating costs and disparities in health care between Medicare and dual eligible Medicaid cancer patients in Michigan (Dr. Cathy Bradley), evaluating the costs of a cognitive behavioral therapy for improving quality of life of somatizing patients in managed care (Dr. Robert Smith), and the analysis of a nurse-community health worker team trail for alleviating perinatal depressive symptoms and stress in low income women (Dr. LeeAnne Roman). Dr. Luo serves as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous journals related to economics, statistics and health services research.