The Health Care Initiative (HCI) is excited to welcome Professor Leemore Dafny as a new Faculty Co-Chair, joining Professor Robert Huckman in leading HCI. Dafny, the Bruce V. Rauner Professor of Business Administration at HBS and Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, brings deep expertise in the economics of health care markets and policy. We caught up with her to hear more about her background, research, and what excites her about joining HCI’s leadership team.
How did you choose your line of work?
I grew up in Houston, Texas, which has a significant health care industry, and my father was (and still is, at age 91!) a professor of Neurobiology at the University of Texas Medical School. So I was steeped in the health care setting from a young age and fascinated by the intersection of healing and profits. I considered whether I should go into medicine, but in college, I fell hard for economics—in part because I loved the lens that the field applies to thinking about tradeoffs and resource allocation. While working at McKinsey after college, I realized I could pursue both interests by studying the business of health care, and I decided to pursue my PhD in Economics with that objective in mind.
What’s a highlight from your time here at HBS?
There are a range of recurring activities that fall into two basic categories—creating new knowledge and sharing that knowledge—and the best moments are when the two intertwine: listening to my students ask real—not softball—questions to protagonists in my classes, testifying before Congress on policy-relevant research, and working one-on-one with MBAs, MPPs, and PhD candidates on research and case studies to create new insights.
How are you feeling about taking on this role?
Excited! As a community, we’ve benefited so much from Rob Huckman’s leadership—not only what he has done, but how he has done it. It’s also an exciting moment to be taking on this role—so much in health care is in flux and threatened. The business of health care is under attack—and, to be honest, some real changes are needed. There is great scope for us to have impact.
What do you see as the role of the Health Care Initiative, and why is its work important today?
We play multiple roles, but I’d say the most important are to (1) encourage and enable the development and exchange of novel ideas to improve the functioning of the health care sector; (2) connect members of our community to enable idea generation and development; and (3) promulgate learnings to expand their impact. Our work is important because health is core to our well-being, the scope for improvement is vast, and the budgetary impact is enormous for the private and public sectors alike.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I have three teenagers, so I spend a fair amount of time driving them around and spectating. I jog regularly and recently picked up hot yoga. I listen to the books selected by my book club (mostly fiction) while falling asleep at night—let me tell you, some are really good for that purpose! I also read a lot of health care news and, while I probably shouldn’t admit it, tabloids.
Lightning round: Any favorite books, shows, podcasts, or movies you’d recommend?
Books: The Pitt, The Covenant of Water, Cutting for Stone (both by Abraham Verghese)
Podcasts: Serial, Tradeoffs
