Lauren Nicholas
Research Investigator, Population Studies Center & Research Fellow, HRS
University of Michigan

Lauren Nicholas is a research investigator in the Population Studies Center and a research fellow with the Health and Retirement Study at the University of Michigan.  Nicholas is a health economist whose research focuses on the role of public policy in improving health care quality, health and retirement outcomes for the elderly population.  She is currently using linked survey and administrative data to study individual and health system factors contributing to health care utilization and outcomes.

Nicholas received her PhD in 2008 from Columbia University.  She was awarded the John Heinz award from the National Academy of Social Insurance for her dissertation, which examined the quality and cost effects of the Medicare Advantage program.  She received a master of public policy from the George Washington University.  Her work has been supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the John A. Hartford Foundation, and the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.