Her fields of specialization include health economics and health econometrics. Her research and scholarship include 14 peer-reviewed journal articles that have appeared in leading journals of applied economics, health policy, and environmental policy: the American Journal of Economics & Sociology, the Journal of Economic Education, and the Southern Economic Journal, and two in Renewable Agriculture & Food Systems, Economics Letters.

The recipient of numerous awards and distinctions that include the Provost’s Award for Excellence at Western Illinois University and the WIU College of Business and Technology Award, both for excellence in campus internationalization, Walia is presently associate editor of the Academy of Economics and Finance Journal. Her professional affiliations include the Academy of Economics and Finance and the American Economic Association.

Walia holds a Ph.D. in economics with an econometrics specialization from Kansas State University, where her dissertation was entitled, “Three Essays in Health and Labor Economics.” Her master’s and bachelor’s degrees, both in economics, are from Punjab University in India.

Education:

Ph.D., Kansas State University

Specialization:

Health care markets and policy, early childhood development, environmental health, labor market policy.

Research Focus:

Dr. Walia’s research is focused in three areas:

• Early child health interventions and cognitive development
• Mortality and behavioral effects of chronic traumatic encephalopathy and related neurodegenerative diseases.
• Health industry economics; industrial organization of health care industry and subsequent health outcomes.

Dr. Walia conducts empirically-based research in each of these areas and looks forward to collaborating with students. She utilizes NLS data sets and related data in her research and analyzes data using health econometric models. She has published journal articles with students in the past and looks forward to collaborating with students in her active and future research program(s).

Statistical Expertise:

Applied statistical programming and methodology, health statistics, biostatistics, health information systems, labor statistics, analysis of National Longitudinal Surveys and other social and behavioral statistical analyses (broadly defined)

Olson-Gugerty holds a D.HSc. from Nova Southeastern University, M.S. Nursing, Family Primary Care, from SUNY Upstate Medical University, as well as an MPH from the University of South Florida and B.S. Health Science from SUNY Cortland.

Li’s research aims to improve the quality of care provided by the US health care system. A large part of her research tries to understand the consequences of Medicare payment incentives. Recently, she has investigated Medicare’s performance-based contracts with hospitals and home health care providers, and how these incentives affect their behavior. Li has also investigated the role of health care report cards on patients’ use of services.

Her research has been supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Additionally, she has received funding from the Rackham Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, the Walter J. McNerney Award, and the Collaborative Doctoral Scholars Program from the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan.