Alex McDowell, PhD, MPH, MSN, RN
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Bio
Dr. Alex McDowell is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Investigator in the Health Policy Research Center at the Mongan Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital. She works at the intersection of health policy, mental health, and LGBTQ+ health. Her goal is to mitigate health inequities through research that influences policy and health care delivery system design. Dr. McDowell has a PhD in Health Policy from Harvard University with a concentration in evaluative science and statistics. Prior to completing doctoral work, Dr. McDowell earned an MPH, MS in Nursing, and BS in Nursing from Johns Hopkins, as well as a BA in Gender Studies from Georgetown University. Dr. McDowell is a member of the Harvard Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression Health Equity Research Collaborative.
Current Projects
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Policy effects on gender minority health and evidence from the implementation of gender affirming coverage in Medicaid
Goals: Using new K01 training in Medicaid financing and administration, I will study the effect of Medicaid coverage policies on access to care (Aim 1) and mental health outcomes (Aim 2) for GM Medicaid enrollees. With K01 training in implementation science, I will characterize barriers and facilitators to effective implementation of Medicaid coverage policies (Aim 3). My overall goal is to generate novel and timely evidence that stakeholders can use to inform the adoption of gender affirming coverage policies and strategies for their implementation.
Role: Principal Investigator
Publications
Dr. McDowell on PubMed
Education
BA, Georgetown University
BSN, MSN, MPH, Johns Hopkins University
PhD, Harvard University
Post-Doctoral Training, Massachusetts General Hospital