Instructors

John Graves (Vanderbilt University)

John Graves, Ph.D. is Professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where he holds appointments in the Department of Health Policy and the Department of Medicine. Dr. Graves directs the Center for Health Economic Modeling at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and is a faculty affiliate of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) and the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center.

Graves’ career spans nearly 20 years conducting interdisciplinary research at the intersection of health economics and health care policy. The focus of his work is on the use of econometric and decision analytic methodologies to inform the development, implementation and evaluation of health care reforms at the state and federal level. His research contributions include modeling efforts that informed both the 2006 Massachusetts health reform legislation and the 2010 Affordable Care Act, for which he served as lead modeler for the White House Office of Health Reform.

Since joining Vanderbilt in 2011, Graves has led and published research projects on novel methods for identifying provider shortages, on the returns to hospital spending and quality, and on the value of genetic screening in diverse health system populations. He currently leads two large federally-funded research grants on the health effects of insurance coverage expansion among safety net patients in the South, and on the implications of provider network design for access and competition in health insurance markets.

Graves earned his BA in Economics and English from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He holds a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Harvard University and is the recipient of fellowships and awards from the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, the National Institute on Aging, the National Bureau of Economic Research, the American Statistical Association, and the National Academy of Social Insurance. He has taught and consulted for the Master’s in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, and is an affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT.

Ashley Leech (Vanderbilt University)

Ashley Leech is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Dr. Leech’s research combines health services research and health economic methods to answer questions related to healthcare access, delivery, resource allocation, and use, and outcomes for reproductive-age women and their children. She is the Principal Investigator of an NIH/NIDA-funded career development award on Advancing Treatment Outcomes for Pregnant Women with Opioid Use Disorder where she is using decision science methodology to promote the coverage and adoption of high-value healthcare for pregnant women with opioid use disorder, a population that disproportionately faces major impediments to care.

Dr. Leech completed her post-doctoral training in Health Economics at the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health (CEVR) at Tufts University School of Medicine where she focused on decision science methodology and received her Ph.D. in Health Services Research at Boston University School of Public Health.

Jinyi Zhu (Vanderbilt University)

Jinyi Zhu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy. Her research focuses on applications and methods to inform decision-making for resource allocation in public health and health care. Specifically, her research falls into three main areas: 1) resource prioritization for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease, 2) applied model-based cost-effectiveness analysis in other clinical areas including TB and HIV, and 3) methodological advances in disease simulation modeling (e.g., model calibration and validation).

Dr. Zhu received a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Harvard University. She also holds an MPH from Yale University and a BS in Biology and BA in economics from Peking University.

Grace Ratcliff (Vanderbilt University)

Grace Ratcliff is a health policy researcher with a focus on data visualization, public health policy, and economic modeling. While receiving her MPH at Vanderbilt University, she contributed to multiple research initiatives, including pediatric trauma injury prevention, impacts of air quality on COPD, and policy analysis of school-based vision screening. Her work focuses on translating health data into actionable insights to inform policy and improve outcomes.

A background in mathematics and business administration, provided her with a strong foundation in quantitative analysis and strategic thinking. Before entering public health, she led digital marketing strategy initiatives, where she developed a keen ability to communicate data clearly and persuasively.

She is committed to improving health outcomes through applied analytics, economic evaluation, and accessible training in health decision science. Her current work involves cost-effectiveness and microsimulation modeling for urologic oncology and procedural strategies, supporting clinicians in evaluating the value of competing interventions.