Meet the Co-Editors: Ari Panzer
Ari in Washington D.C. for his summer internship
Hey everyone! I’m Ari, a second-year MPP concentrating in health policy. Over the summer I interned with the Government Accountability Office on their Education, Workforce, and Income Security team. I am thrilled to join the Journal’s leadership team this year as a co-editor in chief this year and am looking forward to helping students elevate their work into the public eye.
Q&A with Ari
Where are you from?
I grew up on Long Island and moved to Boston, Mass., for college. I survived eight frigid winters (including snowmageddon of 2015) before making my way down to Durham last year.
What were you doing before Sanford?
After graduating from Tufts University in 2017, I spent four years at Tufts Medical Center’s Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health (CEVR). While at CEVR, my work focused on examining variation in commercial health insurance coverage of specialty drugs. We built the Specialty Drug Evidence and Coverage (SPEC) database to track coverage policies issued by 17 of the largest US commercial health insurers and compare coverage to a drug’s FDA approval.
Favorite memory from first year?
MPP hikes! Hike leader Denise Reibel had the brilliant idea to plan a hike each Sunday morning. It was a great way to step away from the craziness of grad school and set aside time to connect with classmates outside of a school environment.
Favorite Sanford class/professor?
High Value Health Care Reform, taught by Drs. Mark McCllelan and Corrina Sorenson from the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy. The course provided an in-depth dive on the past and current efforts to move towards paying for value in US health care. Throughout the course, we heard from leaders across the health care sector about their efforts to reform health care and advance patient-centered, high-quality care. As part of the course, I worked with the National Association of State Health Policy (NASHP) on a project looking at behavioral health integration with primary care.
What are you most excited about in your second year?
Continuing to get to know second-year students and meeting the first-year MPPs! The people are the best part of the program, and I am thrilled to be back on campus with everyone.
Policy interests and what you hope to do after graduation?
I am very interested in health policy at both the state and federal levels, in particular the intersections with other social and environmental policy areas. I aim to join a state or federal agency to contribute to developing, implementing, and evaluating health policy reforms that address non-medical drivers of health.
What makes you excited about the Journal? Why should someone submit to the Journal?
In an age of information overload and limited attention spans, the opportunities for nuanced discussion of complex policy issues seem more limited despite the endless opportunities to put out every thought we have. The Journal fills a need by providing a platform for students to dive into policy-relevant topics in a format that allows for nuance, evidence, and analysis. It also serves as an extension of our class experiences - an opportunity to publish our assignments, educate our peers about policy topics we are passionate about, and learn from others about their areas of expertise. Everyone has something to contribute, and we are all better for reading each other’s work.
I am looking forward to working with Rebecca, Nate, and the rest of the Journal leadership to raise our students’ voices and grow the Journal’s reach. We’d also love to hear from students if they have ideas for articles or ways they want to contribute to the Journal’s mission!
