Harsha Thirumurthy, PhD

Harsha Thirumurthy, PhD is an economist and Professor in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. His research interests are at the intersection of economics and public health, with a focus on identifying behavioral interventions to improve health outcomes in resource-limited settings and examining the effects of health and economic policies on population health outcomes. Dr. Thirumurthy has led numerous studies in Africa and South Asia with multi-disciplinary research teams and a broad network of partner organizations. He work has appeared in leading journals in economics, public health, and medicine, and his research has been supported by multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At Penn, Dr. Thirumurthy co-directs the Behavioral Economics and Global Health Insights Lab and holds several leadership roles, including as Chief of the Division of Health Policy and Associate Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. In 2020, he co-founded the Indlela nudge unit, a behavioral economics research and capacity-strengthening initiative in South Africa. Prior to joining Penn, he completed a PhD in economics from Yale University and served on the faculty at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.