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Epidemiology

Journal Article
Neighborhood Walkability, Neighborhood Social Health, and Self-Selection Among U.S. Adults
Neighborhood walkability may promote specific aspects of neighborhood social health, which together are beneficial for physical and mental health. These findings provide additional impetus for enhancing walkability of US communities.
Jun 22, 2023
Journal Article
Optimal Non-Pharmaceutical Pandemic Response Strategies Depend Critically on Time Horizons and Costs
This paper performs a large-scale optimization exercise to find optimal non-pharmaceutical pandemic response strategies.
Feb 14, 2023
Journal Article
Suicidality Among Sexual Minority Adults: Gender, Age, and Race/Ethnicity Differences
This study examined past-year suicide thoughts, plans, and attempts among adult respondents to the 2015–2019 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (pooled N=191,954).
Oct 27, 2022
Journal Article
Mental Health Service Use Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults Who Report Having Attempted Suicide
This study estimated mental health service use among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults in the United States who reported having made a suicide attempt.
Oct 27, 2022
Journal Article
Perceived Substance Use Risks Among Never Users: Sexual Identity Differences in a Sample of U.S. Young Adults
This investigation provides evidence that LGB adults perceive lower risks associated with multiple substance use behaviors than heterosexual adults, which may indicate important sexual identity differences in susceptibility to substance use initiation.
Oct 27, 2022
Journal Article
Examining Inhalant Use Among Sexual Minority Adults in a National Sample: Drug-Specific Risks or Generalized Risk?
This study compared use of 12 specific inhalants among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults relative to heterosexual adults in a national sample.
Oct 27, 2022
Journal Article
Artificial Intelligence Applications Used in the Clinical Response to COVID-19: A Scoping Review
The authors identified 66 AI applications used to perform a wide range of diagnostic, prognostic, and triage functions in the clinical response to COVID-19. Some saw widespread use, though only a few were independently evaluated.
Oct 19, 2022
Journal Article
Reopening California: Seeking Robust, Non-Dominated COVID-19 Exit Strategies
This paper uses simulation models and the Robust Decision Making (RDM) approach to stress-test California's reopening strategy and other alternatives over a wide range of futures.
Nov 5, 2021
Report
Translational Impacts of World Trade Center Health Program Research: A Mixed Methods Study
In this report, the authors describe the findings and recommendations of a four-year study of the World Trade Center Health Program's research portfolio and its translational impact. Recommendations are designed to help guide Program planning.
Oct 26, 2021
Journal Article
Disparities in Social and Economic Determinants of Health by Sexual Identity, Gender, and Age: Results from the 2015–2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Characterizing disparities between lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults and heterosexual adults across multiple health determinants, we found that LGB females experience significant economic disparities and all LGB subgroups exhibited disparities on some social determinants of health.
Sep 2, 2021
Commentary
Rebuild Public Health for the Next Pandemic?
COVID-19 exposed how underprepared the United States was for a pandemic and raised questions about preparedness for the next one. With political will to spend money on public health, how can America take a holistic view of all the options? And how should investments be prioritized?
Aug 6, 2021
Commentary
We Studied COVID-19 Cases After Birthdays. Family Gatherings Can Still Be Dangerous
The high toll of COVID-19 in the United States is likely partly due to informal social gatherings that have not been subject to state and local restrictions. They are often small, intimate, and involve people we trust. And that makes them dangerous.
Jun 28, 2021
Multimedia
Game Theory: A Tool for the Vaccine Campaign
RAND operations researcher Luke Muggy discusses ways in which game theory could support the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
Jun 14, 2021
Commentary
Will the United States Declare Freedom from COVID-19 Too Soon?
RAND analyzed what could happen with COVID-19 deaths in the United States if restrictions all go away on July 4. Fully reopening the economy before Biden's vaccination target was met doubled the average number of COVID-19 deaths between Independence Day and the end of the year.
May 21, 2021
Report
Stress-Testing California's COVID-19 Reopening Strategy
States' reopening plans vary widely. With a revised RAND decision support tool, researchers tested alternative plans, using California as an example. The best strategies did not prematurely relax measures like indoor mask-wearing; began with a high level of caution; were tied to vaccination rates; and made changes gradually.
May 10, 2021
Tool
Inpatient Hospitalizations for Firearm Injury: Estimating State-Level Rates from 2000 to 2016
The lack of reliable, state-level data on firearm injuries is a challenge for gun policy researchers. As part of the Gun Policy in America initiative, RAND researchers developed a publicly available longitudinal database of state-level estimates of inpatient hospitalizations that occur as a result of firearm injury.
Apr 27, 2021
Multimedia
The Role of Data in the Fight Against COVID-19
RAND senior physician policy researcher Mahshid Abir discusses the importance of accurate and efficient reporting of COVID-related outcomes in the fight against COVID-19.
Mar 22, 2021
Journal Article
Racial/ethnic Differences in Prescription Opioid Misuse and Heroin Use Among a National Sample, 1999–2018
We compared relative prevalences across 6 racial/ethnic groups for prescription opioid misuse analyses and 4 racial/ethnic groups for heroin analyses.
Feb 19, 2021
Report
Comparing National and International Approaches to COVID-19 Measures
Uniform measures are needed to track how well other countries and U.S. states are responding to the pandemic and to make valid cross-country and cross-state comparisons. From December 2019 to May 2020, there was tremendous variability in how COVID-19 indicators were measured and reported. What could be done to allow for more standardized and valid comparisons?
Jan 29, 2021
Report
Mitigating the Effects of Blast-Related Burn Injuries from Prolonged Field Care to Rehabilitation and Resilience: Proceedings and Expert Findings from a U.S. Department of Defense International State-of-the-Science Meeting
Blast-related burns, which accounted for most burns suffered by service members in the recent conflict in Afghanistan, are difficult to treat. These conference proceedings describe a meeting held at RAND to identify gaps in blast-injury research.
Dec 23, 2020

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RAND Health Care

Researcher Spotlight

Mary Ellen Slaughter

Senior Statistical Analyst

Mary Ellen Slaughter is a statistical analyst at the RAND Corporation. She has extensive experience in many different types of regression analyses including survival analysis, mixed effects modeling, and trajectory analysis and has worked on numerous health policy projects in the past ten years.…
Max Griswold

Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

Max Griswold is a policy researcher at RAND and a Ph.D. candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His research focuses on how behavioral risk factor policy, criminal justice policy, and housing policy creates inequitable outcomes in marginalized communities.

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