Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics

About Penn LDI The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (Penn LDI) supports, connects, engages, and amplifies multidisciplinary research among experts from all of Penn’s schools, the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. History With a gift from Leonard and Sophie Davis, the University of Pennsylvania established the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics in 1967, two years after Congress enacted Medicare. The institute was created to fill fundamental gaps in the evidence base that could inform policies critical to the financing and management of the nation’s increasingly costly and complex health care system. Today, Penn LDI is considered one of the world’s leading university institutes, guided by our mission to improve health and health care by catalyzing collaborative, multidisciplinary research that influences policy and practice. We bring together more than 300 Senior Fellows from across the University of Pennsylvania whose work fits broadly within LDI’s six focus areas that highlight some of the most pressing challenges facing our nation’s health system today. These focus areas include: (1) health care access and coverage; (2) health equity; (3) improving care for older adults; (4) the opioid epidemic; (5) population health; and (6) COVID-19. Penn LDI also trains the next generation of health services and health policy researchers through a resource-rich environment and innovative educational programs at the undergraduate, masters, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels. LDI’s role as an active convener at Penn is augmented by a dynamic events calendar of research and policy seminars with national experts and thought leaders; virtual and in-person conferences focused on pressing issues related to health care delivery, population health, and health policy; and a growing number of partnerships with academic and service organizations regionally and nationally.