Marcela Horvitz-Lennon

Photo of Marcela Horvitz-Lennon
Senior Physician Policy Researcher; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Boston Office

Education

M.D. in medicine with intern, Pontifical Catholic University; M.P.H. in public health, Johns Hopkins University

Overview

Marcela Horvitz-Lennon is a senior physician scientist at the RAND Corporation, a core faculty member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, and a member of the faculty in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She is also a practicing psychiatrist at Cambridge Health Alliance. Previously, she was affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and the Chilean Ministry of Health. Her research focuses on the quality and value of healthcare received by adults with serious mental illnesses, a population with high disease burden and severe social disadvantage. Much of her work has been public sector-related because of the significance of public payers for this population. Horvitz-Lennon has conducted research on racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in care; Medicaid and federal healthcare policy; utilization patterns and safety of antipsychotic drugs; underuse and overuse of mental health interventions; integration of physical and mental healthcare; diffusion of mental health innovations; and global mental health. She has served and continues to serve as principal investigator or co-investigator on NIH (NIMH/NIMHD) and other federally-funded research. Through her clinical position, Horvitz-Lennon is actively involved in medical student education and psychiatry resident training. She has also mentored pre-doctoral students and served as member/director of Ph.D. dissertation committees. Horvitz-Lennon earned her M.D. in Santiago, Chile, and a Master's degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She completed her psychiatric residency training at the University of Maryland Medical School, and a fellowship in community psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

  • An In-Depth Investigation of Racial & Ethnic Disparities in Schizophrenia Care
  • Medicare Part D Cost-Sharing & Treatment of Mental Disorders among Disabled Dually Eligible Beneficiaries
  • Evaluation of the SAMHSA Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration Grant Program
  • Identifying and Addressing Health Care Disparities among Severely Mentally Ill Latinos

Languages

Spanish

Publications