Rachel Werner
Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD

Letter from our Executive Director

Welcome to Penn LDI. We are the University of Pennsylvania’s hub for research on health care delivery, health policy, and population health. From our founding in 1967 when Medicare and Medicaid began, through the passage of and challenges to the Affordable Care Act, our researchers have asked and answered the most important questions aimed at creating a more equitable, robust, and sustainable health care system.

We bring together researchers from across the University with a common mission: to achieve effective and efficient health care for all people through collaborative, interdisciplinary research and education. Over 50 years ago, LDI was the first institute of its kind and, for decades, was the only interdisciplinary group dedicated to health economics. Today, it remains the leader in the field with a deep commitment to scientific rigor, policy-relevant research, and training the next generation of researchers.

While we were the first institute to bridge the once disparate fields of business and medicine, we do not rest on our laurels; our priorities continue to focus on the most pressing health system challenges of the day, whether it be COVID-19, the opioid epidemic, or more longstanding issues such as health equity, care of older adults, access and coverage, and population health.

On behalf of Penn LDI, welcome to our virtual home. I invite you to get to know us through our comprehensive directory of our more than 500 Fellows, as well as LDI leadership and staff. You’ll also find our latest news, blog posts, and briefs about the cutting-edge research we do, the evidence-based policy we promote, and the seminars and conferences we hold throughout the year. And, in everything that we do, we work together to create a stronger health care system that is part of a more equitable world.

I hope you find our work accessible, informative, and inspirational.

Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD
Executive Director, Penn LDI, and Robert D. Eilers Professor, Health Care Management and Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

P.S. Stay connected with us via Twitter, LinkedIn, and our e-newsletters.


Our Mission

To improve health and health care by catalyzing collaborative, multidisciplinary research that influences policy and practice.