Class of 2005 Graduates
Prevention Effectiveness Fellows

Today, the research of over 40 Prevention Effectiveness (PE) Fellows and Alumni assist in decision and policy making at CDC. PE Fellows are trained in assessing the impact of public health policies, programs and practices. Prevention effectiveness and health economics research allow CDC to better:

• Assess the economic efficiency of programs through estimation of costs, cost-effectiveness, and cost-benefits;
• Estimate the economic burden of diseases;
• Inform resource allocation among competing needs;
• Track health outcomes;
• Make the business case for programs

Graduating Prevention Effectiveness Fellows have doctoral degrees in economics, decision sciences, health services research, industrial engineering, operations research, and quantitative health policy analysis. Furthermore, they have completed two years of post-doctoral training in economic evaluation of public health practices, programs, and policies at CDC. During their fellowship they work alongside CDC epidemiologists, clinicians, and laboratory workers in assessing the economic impact of disease outbreaks, comparing the economic efficiency of programs, and assessing the economic burden of diseases.

Welcome to our 11th Annual Graduation of PE Fellows

Stephen B. Thacker, MD, MSc
Director, Office of Workforce and Career Development

Denise Koo, MD, MPH
Division Director, Career Development Division

Doug Scott, PhD
Acting Chief and Economist, Prevention Effectiveness and Health Economics Branch

PRAVEEN DHANKHAR, PhD
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
Ph.D., Economics, 2005
PE Fellowship Assignment:
Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases
Division of Emerging Infections and Surveillance Services

Mentor: Martin I. Meltzer, PhD

• Conducting economic evaluations of public health programs, interventions, and policies
• Using econometric and time-series analysis of extensive data sets
• Using MarketScan™ databases to assess economic burden of diseases
• Using the following software proficiently: TreeAge Pro®, SAS®, SPSS®, SUDAAN®, and Visual Basic and C language

LIJING OUYANG, PhD
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Ph.D., Economics, 2005
PE Fellowship Assignment:
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
Division of Human Development and Disability

Mentor: Scott Grosse, PhD

• Adolescent health, maternal and child health, health-compromising behaviors, newborn screening, children with special-care needs, and disability throughout life course
• Applying-cross sectional and panel data methods (e.g., generalized linear models, dynamic discrete choice models, fixed and random effects models, instrumental variable, and propensity score methods)
• Conducting economic evaluation of public health programs, interventions, and policies
• Using the following software proficiently: SAS, STATA, MATLAB®, and TreeAge Pro
• Using medical claims database (i.e., MarketScan™), panel surveys (i.e., AddHealth, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97, and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey), and telephone-based cross-sectional surveys (i.e., the National Survey of Children's Health)

RUI LI, PhD
University of California, Berkeley, California
Ph.D., Health Services Research, 2005
PE Fellowship Assignment:
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Division of Diabetes Translation

Mentor: Ping Zhang, PhD

• Health services research (e.g., health-care utilization, cost-of-disease burden, and quality of health care)
• Conducting economic evaluation of public health programs, interventions, and policies
• Policy analysis (e.g., public health laws and regulations, Medicare policies, and physician reimbursement)
• Using the following statistical software proficiency: STATA, SUDAAN, SAS, and TreeAge Pro
• Using extensive datasets (e.g., the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and MedStat)