Recent PhD graduate Ye Shen received the Best Paper Award from the AcademyHealth Child Health Services Research Interest Group for Insurance Dynamics During Childhood in the Fragmented US Health System. As the corresponding author, Shen accepted the award on behalf of the co-authors at the 2026 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Seattle, Washington, in May 2026. In addition to CHDS faculty Nicolas Menzies and Ankur Pandya, co-authors included Benjamin Sommers, Laura Hatfield, and Catherine Hayes.
Published in JAMA, the paper was one of Shen’s three dissertation chapters that collectively addressed a central question: What are the cumulative consequences of growing up in the fragmented US health system? The JAMA paper focused on children’s cumulative experiences across public and private health insurance coverage options, as well as gaps.
Shen is a graduate of the Harvard PhD Program in Health Policy with a concentration in Decision Sciences.
Learn more: Read the full publication, Insurance Dynamics During Childhood in the Fragmented US Health System
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