Researcher Is Named Director of Center for State Health Policy at Institute for Health

Rutgers officials select Medicaid policy expert Lindsay Shea following a national search

Lindsay Shea, a nationally recognized scholar and Medicaid policy expert who helped pioneer new approaches to autism research, has been named director of the Center for State Health Policy (CSHP), a unit of the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (IFH).

She also will hold a faculty appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Shea will begin her new role leading CSHP, which provides impartial policy analysis and research and pressing state health policy issues, this July. She is currently an associate professor with tenure and director of the Policy and Analytics Center at the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute in Philadelphia. University officials selected Shea for the position following a national search.

Shea's research has focused on informing physical and mental health improvements and addressing disabilities across the lifespan among people with complex needs. This includes individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Shea has led several research and community-based projects and developed new approaches to autism research, including the use of national Medicaid claims data. Medicaid, the state-administered federal program providing coverage of health and long-term care to low-income Americans, is the largest behavioral health insurer in the US and is a major source of health services utilization data for the autism community.

"At a time when states are playing an expanded role in shaping health systems, Rutgers and the Center for State Health Policy are uniquely positioned to bridge research and policy," Shea said. "I look forward to strengthening these connections, so evidence generated at CSHP continues to guide decisions that matter."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shea led a research team that was among the first in the United States to capture emerging information about vaccination and booster hesitancy and preferences among autistic adults, as well as their experiences with social isolation. Recently, her research has responded to the field's renewed focus on life-span issues for adults with ASD, including sexual health, pregnancy outcomes, aging and housing instability.

At the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Shea leads the Policy Impact Project, an initiative that seeks to help translate research findings into policy solutions that improve the lives of autistic people and those with other developmental disabilities. She also founded the Policy, Analytics and Community Research Program, which combines community engagement with the use of larger data sources to identify the service needs and preferences of autistic adults and their caregivers.

I am confident in Dr. Shea's ability to successfully lead us into our next chapter, and I look forward to supporting her transition to the Center, IFH and the broader Rutgers community."

Joel Cantor

Founding Director, Center for State Health Policy

"We are extremely fortunate to have Dr. Shea taking the reins at the Center," said Joel Cantor, the founding director of CSHP. "She is an outstanding state health policy scholar and leader. I am confident in her ability to successfully lead us into our next chapter, and I look forward to supporting her transition to the Center, IFH and the broader Rutgers community."

Cantor joined Rutgers in 1999 as the founding director of the Center for State Health Policy and is a nationally acclaimed health policy expert. With initial and continuous funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Center has developed an extensive portfolio of projects supported by state and federal grants from the NJ Department of Human Services, the NJ Department of Health, the Office of the Governor, the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

"The Institute for Health is thrilled to welcome Lindsay Shea as the new leader of the Center for State Health Policy," said Tobias Gerhard, the director of Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research. "Her innovative vision, paired with her wealth of experience in public policy and health research, will strengthen and grow the remarkable foundation established by Joel Cantor during his 27 years of leadership."

Shea has more than a decade of research experience utilizing health care data and has authored more than 100 research articles. She served as the principal investigator on more than a dozen federal and foundation-funded studies and state and local contracts exceeding $18 million in funding. Shea has also co-led data cores for large-scale initiatives including a National Institutes of Health-funded Autism Center of Excellence and the NIH Common Fund's Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society.

Shea received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Susquehanna University, her master's degree in social policy from the University of Pennsylvania and her doctor of public health degree in health policy and social justice from Drexel University.