Skip to main content

AcademyHealth Blog

Welcome to the AcademyHealth blog, together with our members, we promote interaction across the health research and policy arenas by bringing together a broad spectrum of players to share their perspectives. Here we offer important perspectives from people passionate about expanding access to care, reducing costs and improving quality, as well as updates on AcademyHealth activities relevant to the community.

Blog Post

When the Odds Change After You Place Your Bet

In Work Interrupted: Voices from the Field, one researcher reflects on the uncertainty of building an academic career amid a rapidly changing federal funding environment. What began as a calculated bet on a future in health policy research became a lesson in adapting to delayed grant reviews, disappearing opportunities, and shifting expectations.
Posted Oct 21, 2026 By Alexander Everhart, Ph.D.
Blog Post

The Evidence Effect: Four Stories That Show How Research Improves Lives

AcademyHealth's signature storytelling series, The Evidence Effect, now has a complete pilot series. These four stories showcase the real-world impact of health services research. The series will continue highlighting HSR success stories and how evidence can improve care, inform decisions, and strengthen communities.
Posted Oct 19, 2026 By Karina Collins, M.P.H., Tess Bernhard
Blog Post

AcademyHealth Releases Compendium of Cancer Biomarker Initiatives: A Central Repository for Cancer Biomarker Testing Resources

AcademyHealth’s Scaling Cancer Biomarker Testing Coalition announces the Compendium of Cancer Biomarker Initiatives, a resource centralizing the work happening in the biomarker testing landscape to support alignment, partnership, and coordination.
Posted Oct 5, 2026
Blog Post

From Termination to Turning a New Leaf

In Work Interrupted: Voices from the Field, Siham Ahmed reflects on the abrupt termination of her Payne Fellowship and the uncertainty that followed. Just as she was beginning to build the future she had envisioned, a single email changed everything, . Her story is a reminder that while opportunities may be interrupted, purpose and commitment to public service can endure.
Posted Sep 24, 2026 By Siham Ahmed, M.P.H. 
Blog Post

Who Says It’s Broken? Rethinking Stakeholder Engagement in Quality Improvement Projects

While health services researchers have embraced stakeholder engagement as essential to improving care quality, the timing and authenticity of that engagement determine whether we produce real solutions. True partnership means bringing those with lived experience in before defining the problem, not after designing the intervention.
Posted Sep 23, 2026 By Christine McClure, Ed.D.