Austin is a health economist, associate professor, and researcher; the creator, co-manager, and a primary author of The Incidental Economist; and a regular contributor to The New York Times’ The Upshot.
He has an educational background in physics and engineering. After receiving his PhD in statistical and applied mathematics, he spent 4 years at a research and consulting firm conducting policy evaluations for federal health agencies.
Austin is now the Director of the Partnered Evidence-based Policy
Resource Center (PEPReC) at the Boston VA Healthcare System, U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs. He is also an Associate Professor with the Department of
Health Law, Policy and Management at Boston University’s School of Public
Health. In addition, he is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Department
of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health.
Austin is a Senior Associate Editor for Health Services Research
and serves on the editorial board of The American Journal of Managed Care. He
is also a member of the New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory
Council.
Austin has authored numerous peer-reviewed, scholarly publications, many relevant to health care financing, economics, and policy.
In addition to regular contributions to The New York Times’ The
Upshot, he writes for the JAMA Forum.