In this seminar, Maria Alva, assistant research professor at the Massive Data Institute in the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, discussed her research estimating mortality rates and years of life lost in Washington, DC, using official death records. Professor Alva shared that racial disparities in Washington, DC, mortality rates amplified in 2020, growing higher for Blacks and proportionally increasing the most for Hispanics. Her findings showed that Black and Hispanic Washington, DC, residents lost six to seven expected years of life in 2020, emphasizing that systemic problems amplified the impact of COVID-19 in the capital of the United States. Professor Alva’s research is also available as a co-authored pre-print article.
This event was co-sponsored by the Center for Global Health Science and Security, the School of Health’s Department of Health Management and Policy, and the Global Health Institute.
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Maria Alva is an assistant research professor at the Massive Data Institute in the McCourt School of Public Policy. Her research focuses on impact evaluations of health care interventions, and the cost-effectiveness of preventive decisions. She works primarily in the area of behavioral health and noncommunicable diseases. Alva started her economics career at the University of Oxford, where her research focused on economic analyses of the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study—a landmark trial of policies to improve the management of people with type 2 diabetes. Before joining Georgetown, Alva worked as a senior research associate at Impaq International and as a health economist in the division of public health and policy research at RTI International.