Aleksandra Jakubowski 

I am an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Health Sciences (tenure home) and the Department of Economics. 

My research interests lie at the intersection of health policy and economics. I have a particular interest in improving  access to quality healthcare services in poor settings. My philosophy is that focusing on expanding healthcare access alone is not enough. In order to generate demand for healthcare, we must  commit to providing access to high quality health systems where patients are respected and valued. We must also overcome deeply entrenched social values that prevent disadvantaged populations from having a meaningful role in their healthcare decisions. My research aims to ensure that people of all socio-economic backgrounds make informed choices about their health and have access to quality care. 

When designing research studies, I engage with policy officials from low- and middle-income countries to understand their policy priorities and design rigorous studies to address their questions. This demand-driven  approach to research allows me to apply health policy and econometric principles to a wide range of issues. It also ensures that policy partners are engaged from the beginning, with the aim of boosting the potential of our findings being adopted into policy decisions. 

In previous work, I investigated the impact of large-scale policies and programs in sub-Saharan Africa on health and economic functioning  of the recipient populations. Using data from a cluster-randomized trial in Uganda and Kenya, I found that expanded access to HIV testing and treatment has led to improved economic status of people living with HIV and their children. This evidence suggests that the considerable investment that is needed to expand access to HIV testing and treatment in low-income countries has the potential to have short- and long-term economic returns. In my doctoral work I found that the US President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) significantly lowered under-5 mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa. The evidence suggests that the large investment US government has made in PMI program has significantly lowered the burden of malaria globally.  You can read a summary of this academic paper in this NY Times article.  In postdoctoral work I found that the US government's investments in health aid significantly improved the country's image abroad, providing important political returns to the donor. Please read a summary of my ongoing work on my research page. 

I have a PhD in Health Policy (economics track) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Masters of Public Health from Columbia University. Before joining Northeastern, I was a postdoc at UC Berkeley and Stanford University.  

I was born and grew up in a small town near Częstochowa in Poland. My family immigrated to the US when I was a teenager, and since then I've called home these wonderful places: the Bay Area of California, North Carolina, Brooklyn, Boston and New Jersey. I'm excited to have returned to Boston for my current appointment at Northeastern and look forward to reconnecting with my New England friends and colleagues.  

360 Huntington Ave
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Email: a.jakubowski(at)northeastern(dot)edu