Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD

Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD is the Founders Presidential Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Medical Ethics, and Health Policy (MEHP), and Health Care Management at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School. He grew up in Princeton, NJ as the only boy in a family with three sisters; his father was a first-generation immigrant from Germany, and his mother a first-generation immigrant from China. He attended Harvard University for his MA in biology, and then completed an MD/PhD at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School. Following residency training in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, he came back to Penn as an Assistant Professor in 2001. Dr. Volpp has spent much of his time doing research on behavioral economics and health. He created the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) in 2008, one of two original NIH Centers in behavioral economics and health, and the Division of Health Policy within MEHP in 2014. He was a part-time clinician at the VA (as a PCP and then as a hospitalist) for 18 years. He is on the Editorial Board of the NEJM Catalyst and remains excited about the potential for significant future improvements in health and health care. Dr. Volpp’s wife Marjorie is a clinical social worker who does therapy with kids and families. One of his favorite activities outside of work was coaching his three girls’ youth basketball teams, but now that Anna (19), Thea (19), and Daphne (14) are all away in school, Dr. Volpp keeps busy outside of work playing tennis, running, and using a Peloton bike.