Jacob Sims Speyer

PhD Candidate in Health Policy (G2, Economics)

Jacob Sims Speyer graduated in 2021 from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Public Policy and a minor in Statistics. During his undergraduate studies, Jacob was a research assistant for Dr. Kerwin Charles, where he analyzed underemployment issues related to males. For his senior thesis, which was overseen by Dr. Harold Pollack, Jacob examined the impact of Medicaid expansion on substance use disorder treatment referral patterns. After graduating, Jacob worked as an Analyst at the economic consulting firm Analysis Group in Boston. He contributed to a variety of cases, including healthcare litigation damage assessments, suspicious order monitoring programs, and healthcare economics outcomes research. At Harvard, Jacob hopes to further explore the intersection of public payment models, such as Medicare and Medicaid, with substance use disorder and mental health disorder treatment.