Associate Professor of Public Affairs
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Todd Olmstead is an associate professor of public affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. At the LBJ School, he conducts economic evaluations of a wide variety of health care programs and teaches courses in empirical methods, management science, and health economics. Dr. Olmstead has received numerous teaching awards and is the health economist on current grants and contracts totaling more than $30 million, including several R01s funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Current research projects include estimating the cost-effectiveness of programs designed to:
- Provide alternative responses to 911 calls with a behavioral health component;
- Prevent falls and treat depression among homebound older adults;
- Improve outpatient treatment utilization among emerging adults with substance use disorder;
- Improve treatment outcomes for persons with hip and/or knee osteoarthritis;
- Stop smoking among hospitalized smokers with cardiovascular disease;
- Improve treatment outcomes among persons with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders;
- Promote HIV testing among high-risk women; and
- Promote job-seeking activities among unemployed persons living with HIV/AIDS.
In addition to his work in health care, Dr. Olmstead has published in the areas of intelligent transportation systems, highway safety and administrative rulemaking.