Wolfe elected to National Institute of Medicine

Barbara Wolfe, professor of economics, public affairs and population health sciences, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The institute and its committees work in areas that advance and protect the health professions and sciences, and the promotion of health care-related research.

Wolfe is among 65 new members elected, bringing the institutes total membership to 1,358. The institute says members are chosen for their major contributions to health and medicine, or to related fields such as social and behavioral sciences, law, administration, and economics. The institute looks at each candidate’s professional achievements and demonstrated interest, concern and involvement with problems and critical issues that affect public health.

The institute was formed in 1970 as a unit of the National Academy of Sciences. It is broadly based in the biomedical sciences and health professions, along with aspects of the behavioral and social sciences, administration, law, the physical sciences and engineering.

Wolfe teaches health economics at UW–Madison and is principal investigator on a training grant in the health and mental health economics. Her current research focuses on the economics of disability, inequality of health and health care, and the consequences of the patchwork system of health care coverage, especially for the low-income population. She is former director of the Institute for Research on Poverty, and is currently active with the Brookings Children’s Roundtable and the International Health Economics Association.