Lindsay Shea, a nationally recognized scholar and Medicaid policy expert who helped pioneer new approaches to autism research, has been named director of the Center for State Health Policy (CSHP), a unit of the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (IFH).
She also will hold a faculty appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Shea will begin her new role leading CSHP, which provides policy analysis and research and pressing state health policy issues, this July. She is an associate professor with tenure and director of the Policy and Analytics Center at the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute in Philadelphia.
Shea’s research has focused on informing physical and mental health improvements and addressing disabilities across the lifespan among people with complex needs. This includes individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Shea has led several research and community-based projects and developed new approaches to autism research, including the use of national Medicaid claims data. Medicaid is the largest behavioral health insurer in the U.S. and is a major source of health services utilization data for the autism community.
“At a time when states are playing an expanded role in shaping health systems, Rutgers and the Center for State Health Policy are uniquely positioned to bridge research and policy,” Shea said. “I look forward to strengthening these connections, so evidence generated at CSHP continues to guide decisions that matter.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shea led a research team that was among the first in the United States to capture emerging information about vaccination and booster hesitancy and preferences among autistic adults, as well as their experiences with social isolation. Recently, her research has responded to the field’s renewed focus on life-span issues for adults with ASD, including sexual health, pregnancy outcomes, aging and housing instability.
At the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Shea leads the Policy Impact Project, an initiative that seeks to help translate research findings into policy solutions that improve the lives of autistic people and those with other developmental disabilities. She also founded the Policy, Analytics and Community Research Program, which combines community engagement with the use of larger data sources to identify the needs and preferences of autistic adults and their caregivers.
“She is an outstanding state health policy scholar and leader,” said Joel Cantor, the founding director of CSHP. “I am confident in her ability to successfully lead us into our next chapter, and I look forward to supporting her transition to the Center, IFH and the broader Rutgers community.”
Shea has more than a decade of research experience utilizing health care data and has authored more than 100 research articles. She served as the principal investigator on more than a dozen federal and foundation-funded studies and state and local contracts exceeding $18 million in funding. Shea has also co-led data cores for large-scale initiatives including a National Institutes of Health-funded Autism Center of Excellence and the NIH Common Fund’s Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society.
