Rate My Professor Emma Dean

Emma Dean is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Clinical Practice at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. She holds a BS in Biometry & Statistics from Cornell University, an MS in Managerial Science and Applied Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in the same field from Wharton. Before academia, Dr. Dean worked as a management consultant focused on the pharmaceutical industry. She previously taught population health and health policy courses at the University of Miami, including HMP 310, HMP 620, and HMP 684. At Dartmouth, she teaches PH 128 Health Systems and MDED 118.

A health economist, Dr. Dean's research specializes in the pharmaceutical industry, including high-cost physician-administered medications, drug price negotiations and payments, pharmaceutical price controls, pooled purchasing of pharmaceuticals, and price transparency. She also investigates the relationship between poverty and health, particularly access to medicine for underserved populations. Her scholarship appears in prestigious outlets such as the Journal of Public Economics, Health Affairs, Health Affairs Scholar, JAMA Health Forum, JAMA Network Open, Medical Care, and Health Services Research. Key publications include “Who Benefits from Pharmaceutical Price Controls? Evidence from India” (Journal of Public Economics, 2025), “The Role of Supply Chain Intermediaries in Steering Hospital Product Choice: Group Purchasing Organizations and Biosimilars” (Health Affairs Scholar, 2024), “The Role of Financial Incentives in Biosimilar Uptake in Medicare: Evidence from the 340B Program” (Health Affairs, 2023), “Changes in Medicare Part B Spending for Biologic Drugs After Biosimilar Entry Into the Market” (JAMA Health Forum, 2021), and “Food Insecurity, Health Care Utilization, and Health Care Expenditures” (Health Services Research, 2020). Highly cited works also encompass “Poverty and Cognitive Function” (2017) and “Government Fragmentation and Public Goods Provision” (2017). Dr. Dean is affiliated with the Dartmouth Cancer Center, the Health Economics and Policy Lab, and the Susan J. and Richard M. Levy 1960 Academic Cluster in Health Care Delivery. She has presented as an invited speaker at the New Hampshire Insurance Department’s Annual Hearing on Healthcare Premium and Claim Costs Drivers.