U of M professor joins president's economic advisors

by Tim Nelson, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — A University of Minnesota public health professor is heading to Washington to serve as a key advisor to the President's Council of Economic Advisors.

Jean Abraham will be a health policy analyst for the three-person council. Council members consult with a staff of 10 experts like Abraham to help guide U.S. economic policy as it's being discussed in the White House.

"My role will be to serve as a liaison between the research community, which can provide lots of wonderful kind of research findings on policy evaluation. You know, what's the anticipated impact of a particular proposal, what's the expected cost? Basically pulling from the research community kind of the key findings and applying them to the proposals that are being discussed," Abraham said.

Abraham is an assistant professor at the U. She'll be on leave from the university while she serves in Washington D.C. for the next year.