
Welcome to the Health and Environmental Economics Lab (HEEL)
Dr. Elaine Hill leads the Health and Environmental Economics Lab, which carries out diverse research related to health and environmental economics. The lab seeks to apply applied econometric tools and data science approaches to understand the intersection between health, policy, the environment and human capital formation, with an emphasis on the effect of environmental exposures on health and translating research findings into effective policy. The research team uses administrative health data (e.g., claims, hospital discharge data, vital statistics), administrative environmental data (e.g., EPA monitoring, USGS monitoring, regulatory sampling data, regulatory violations data), geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing data to address pressing questions for health policy. This lab regularly collaborates with experts in epidemiology, data science, exposure assessment, psychology, and various medical specialties. The goal of this research is to provide policy relevant evidence to promote healthy communities.

Elaine L. Hill, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Publications
View All Publications- The Impact of Increased Medicaid Eligibility During Pregnancy on Medicaid Utilization and Gestational Age.; Health services research. 2025 Sep 14.
- Evidence-Based Framework for Identifying Opioid Use Disorder in Administrative Data: A Systematic Review and Methodological Development Study.; Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.). 2025 Aug 25.
- Medicaid Coverage Policy Variations for Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder Treatment.; JAMA network open; Vol 8(8), pp. e2526796. 2025 Aug 01.
- Impact of Drug Shortages on Cancer Care Delivery Within the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program.; JCO oncology practice. 2025 Jul 25.
- HIV Infection and Long COVID: A RECOVER Program, Electronic Health Record Based Cohort Study.; Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. 2025 May 12.
- Racial and Urban-Rural Disparities in Lung Cancer Care: Insight from a Latent Class Growth Analysis.; Journal of cancer policy. 2025 Apr 11.
Contact Us
Hill Lab
601 Elmwood Ave
Rochester, NY 14642