The University of Texas at Austin

Benedicte Callan, the Head of the Biotechnology Unit for the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is joining the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs research team as a Sid Richardson Fellow focusing on health policy and innovation and as a research affiliate of the Center for Health and Social Policy (CHASP). Read more about Dr. Callan >

Ben Sasse served as U.S. assistant secretary of health and human services from 2007 to 2009 and joins the LBJ School as an Assistant Professor. His current research looks at efforts to modernize payment systems in American health care. Read more about Dr.Sasse >

Fall 2009 marks the beginning of Social, Health, Economic, and Education Policymakers' (SHEP) third year at the LBJ School. The organization considers itself a "home" for students interested in investigating social, health, and economic policy issues beyond the classroom. Read More >

LBJ School Professor Jacqueline Angel is a member of a team of sociologists who have been awarded a $37,000 grant to study the health and aging of Mexican migrants living in selected cities in America and Mexico. The team will analyze survey data collected in the United States and Mexico and will interview elderly Mexican immigrants. They hope their research will improve the understanding of how the maintenance and the severance of social networks associated with the immigration experience affect the heath and well-being of elderly Mexican immigrants.

Created as part of a professional research project under the direction of CHASP professor Jeanne Lambrew, these policy briefs support the work of the Texas Coverage Institute funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and together provide a comprehensive look at options for expanding health insurance coverage in Texas. Read More >

Employers are the main source of health insurance coverage for most Texans under 65, but small businesses face significant challenges in providing health insurance for employees. This issue brief provides new information from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey about some of the challenges facing small businesses in providing health insurance. Download brief >>

The 2008 recipient of the Wilber and Eloise Cohen Award is Jennifer DeRouen Moore for her professional report, "The Impacts of the Citizenship Documentation Requirement on the Medicaid Program." Ms. Moore currently lives in Cary, North Carolina. Read more >>

April 2008 marks the first anniversary of the formation of Social, Health and Economic Policymakers, or SHEP, at the LBJ School. The fledging organization provides a portal for information of interest to students in social policy. "I had a growing interest in health and social policy," says Julie Montgomery, SHEP Steering Committee Chair, "I started talking with others who shared my interests and we thought, 'why not an organization?'" A few meetings later, SHEP was born. Read more >>

Asthma is an increasing public health problem, the incidence of which has increased over the past two decades in Texas and the United States. Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease. Attacks vary from mild to life threatening and include inflammation and narrowing of small airways. Asthma triggers include allergens, like pollen; infections; exercise; weather changes and exposure to airway irritants, like tobacco smoke. Asthma disproportionately affects some populations more than others. It can be controlled, but not cured. Download Brief >>

CHASP Professor Cynthia Osborne received the Texas Exes Teaching Award for her "positive influence on the educational experience of university students." Read more>>

Findings from CHASP Professor Jane Lincove's research about the effect of economic development on women's participation in the labor force in developing countries will be published in the Journal of Developing Areas in April. Her article, "Growth, Girls' Education, and Female Labor: A Longitudinal Analysis," may have experts reevaluating the role of women in growing economies. Read more>>

Drs. Robert Crosnoe (PI) and Shannon Cavanaugh of the Department of Sociology,and CHASP professor Dr. Cynthia Osborne received funding from the National Institutes for Health (NIH) for a research project to evaluate the connection between child health and early education. "This research will help us to better understand how differentials in children's physical and emotional health in early childhood affect the gap in school performance at school entry and in the elementary school years," says Osborne. Read more>>

The 2007 recipient of the Wilber and Eloise Cohen Award is Jennifer Leigh Deegan for her professional report, "Expanding Children's Health Insurance Coverage in Texas." Ms. Deegan currently works for Texas Representative Patrick Rose in the House Committee on Human Services. Read more >>