Ketra L. Rice
Health Economics and Policy Researcher
I am a Health Economist with specialized training in public policy, applied economics, and public health, driven by a desire to understand inequalities and evaluate how policies influence outcomes. My research is interdisciplinary, applying multiple methodologies to bridge theory and discovery with real-world applications that benefit society. I employ diverse theory and methods across public policy, applied economics, rural sociology, health geography and public health. I have expertise in working with large datasets, conducting interviews and focus groups, and using tools for statistical programming, econometric modeling, and agent-based modeling to deliver evidence-based insights to policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders.
Selected Publications
1. Rice, K., Ottley, P., Bing, M., & McMonigle, M. (2023). Costs of Implementing a Local Teen Dating and Youth Violence Prevention Program: Evidence from Five CDC-Funded Local Health Departments, 2016-2019. Public Health Reports. Epub ahead of print. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00333549231201615
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2. Rice, K., Brown, M., Nataraj, N., & Xu, L. (2023). Circumstances Contributing to Suicide Among US Adolescents Aged 10–19 Years With and Without a Known Mental Health Condition: National Violent Death Reporting System, 2013–2018. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72(4), 519-525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.11.009
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3. Peterson C., Aslam M.V., Rice K.L., Gupta N., Kearns M.C. (2023). Systematic review of per person violence costs. Am J Prev Med, 66(2), 342-350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2023.08.009
4. Schuerkamp, R., Liang, L., Rice, K.L., & Giabbanelli, P.J. (2023). Simulation Models for Suicide Prevention: A Survey of the State-of-the-Art. Computers, 12(7), 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12070132
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5. Rice, K.L., Miller, G.F., Coronado, F., & Meltzer, M.I. (2020). Estimated resource costs for implementation of CDC’s recommended COVID-19 mitigation strategies in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 public schools—United States, 2020–21 school year. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(50), 1917. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6950e1-H.pdf
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Research Philosophy
My research is driven by a desire to understand the existence of inequalities and provide analysis and evaluation to scientifically examine how policy may influence and impact outcomes. I am committed to a policy research agenda that employs multiple methodologies, is interdisciplinary in nature, and seeks to give meaning to theory and discovery - ultimately leading to the practical application of those theories to advance humankind and solve tangible problems.
Drawing from this belief, my current research methods follow multiple forms of inquiry and analysis, combining positivist, post-positivist, quantitative and qualitative techniques; and encompass multiple disciplines, linking theory and models in public policy applied economics, rural sociology, health geography and public health. My task has been and will continue to be to synthesize and integrate multiple methods and perspectives to better communicate policy realties, ideas, and solutions to policymakers, practitioners, academicians, and other stakeholders.
Teaching Philosophy
Teaching is a collaborative process of shared knowledge between student and teacher. To be a great teacher is to be open to learning as much from my students as they learn from me. My philosophy of teaching reflects my values of nurturing student excellence and my desire for students to deeply understand the materials I present, rather than simply memorizing materials in order to pass my exams. I view my role in the classroom as one in which I cultivate students’ scholarly inquiry and create an academic environment in which they can apply meaning to theory and the discovery of information, consequently leading to the practical application of those theories and information to solve collective problems.
