Our Impact

A study linking automobile assembly plant closures to rising drug overdose deaths was cited in testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s 2019 hearing on opioids and in a landmark National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on rising midlife mortality in the U.S.

Our work on wage inequality and poverty among health care workers was cited in a key 2021 Department of Labor ruling advising President Biden on how to implement his Executive Order raising the minimum wage for federal contractors.

The potential health consequences of reparations policies were highlighted in both a 2023 New York City Department of Public Health and Mental Hygiene report on the racial wealth gap and the 2023 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, Federal Policy to Advance Racial, Ethnic, and Tribal Health Equity.

Research on administrative burdens in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program contributed to a Presidential Executive Order focused on reducing administrative hurdles in public programs and informed the 2021 MODERN WIC Act. It was also cited in a 2022 White House Office of Management and Budget memo detailing approaches to improving access to public benefits.

Evidence on the health consequences of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was cited in multiple amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2020 case reviewing the program’s 2017 rescission. It was also referenced in the Department of Homeland Security’s 2022 final rule aimed at preserving and strengthening the DACA program.

Our study documenting the mental health spillover effects of police killings of unarmed Black Americans informed historic statements from major medical and public health organizations naming police violence and structural racism as public health crises. The research was cited by Members of Congress, in multiple federal bills, in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in California’s landmark 2023 Reparations Report.

We have shared our research with senior officials at HHS and the Social Security Administration, presented at high-visibility venues such as SXSW, and contributed to federal initiatives, including the White House Clinician Innovator Roundtable.