Diksha Brahmbhatt, MPH
Medical Student
Diksha Brahmbhatt is a fourth year medical student at Weill Cornell Medicine who works with Dr. Will Schpero. Diksha is planning a career at the intersection of primary care, local and national health policy, and public health and works with Dr. Schpero on studies spanning several policy-relevant spheres, including competition in hospital markets, Medicaid procedural denials, and mental healthcare disparities. Diksha co-led a secret shopper study with Dr. Schpero, calling 400 psychiatry offices across the country to assess the accessibility of appointments for a patient with Medicaid and examine the accuracy of health plan directories. Prior to medical school, Diksha studied anthropology at Yale College, completed an MPH in chronic disease epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, and worked as a data manager for a New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene program that brought together academic and health department investigators to work on policy-relevant research. Diksha plans to begin residency in Internal Medicine upon graduation and to continue participating in health policy research that affects Medicaid beneficiaries.
Matthew Maughan, MBA
Master's Student
Matthew Maughan is in his second year as a student in the Master of Science in Health Policy and Economics program at Weill Cornell Medicine with plans to graduate in spring 2024. Matthew holds a BA in economics and an MBA and previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry for seven years in various commercial analytics roles. Throughout his experience, Matthew became increasingly interested in issues of access, value, and pricing. He realized that incentives within the industry were distorted, and that his passion involved policy research, reform, and advocacy. In particular, he is interested in issues of payment and delivery reform for both public and private insurance. This led Matthew to the MS program and his pursuit of research opportunities. Under Dr. Jiani Yu’s mentorship, Matthew explores various trends in the nursing home space, as it has undergone incredible churn and consolidation in past years with the entrance of large corporate entities. He is readying a related paper for journal submission and will begin his PhD in health policy in the fall.