Biography of the Dean

Cathy Bradley, ColoradoSPH Dean 2023

Cathy Bradley PhD

Dean & Professor; Deputy Director (CU Cancer Center)
  • Cancer Center
  • Colorado School of Public Health - Office of the Dean
  • Colorado School of Public Health Administration
  • Department of Health Systems, Management & Policy

Cathy J. Bradley, PhD, is the Dean of the Colorado School of Public Health and the Deputy Director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Dr. Bradley is a health economist and holds the Paul A. Bunn, Jr. Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. Prior to joining the University of Colorado, she was the founding Chair of the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

Dr. Bradley received a Bachelor’s degree from Old Dominion University and a Master’s of Public Administration and PhD in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health.

Dr. Bradley’s research focuses on decisions made at the intersection of work, health insurance, and cancer, and seeks to explain how when faced with a serious and expensive path to treat illness such as cancer, many workers remain employed to keep employer-based health insurance, despite needs for treatment and convalescence. This research has extended to families and caregivers and their financial consequences. Within this realm, Dr. Bradley concentrates on policies that reduce disparate outcomes and financial burden among people who must make these stark choices. She is also an expert in Medicaid and using administrative datasets to explore research questions related to health disparities. Since 1998, she has been continuously funded as a principal investigator by the National Institutes of Health, and has received funding from the American Cancer Society, the Commonwealth Fund, and other state and international agencies.

Dr. Bradley served on national advisory committees including the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine National Cancer Policy Forum and formerly served on the National Advisory Committee to the Agency for Healthcare Quality & Research. She currently serves on the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Methods Committee. She is also an Associate Editor for Journal of the National Cancer Institute, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cancer Survivorship, and was formerly an Associate Editor of Health Economics.

Dr. Bradley has received numerous awards and honors including the Women in Science, Dentistry, and Medicine Professional Achievement Award in Leadership, the Distinguished Faculty Award at Michigan State University, and the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Areas of Expertise

  • Health and labor market outcomes
  • Productivity costs of disease
  • Health insurance
  • Influence of employment-contingent health insurance on treatment and labor supply
  • Socioeconomic healthcare disparities
  • Healthcare delivery
  • Medicaid

Education, Licensure & Certifications

  • PhD-Health Policy and Administration (Minor: Economics), School of Public Health, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1994
  • MPA-Public Administration, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1986
  • BA-Political Science, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 1983

Resumes/CV:

Awards

  • Paul A. Bunn, Jr. Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, University of Colorado Cancer Center
  • David F. and Margaret Turley Grohne Endowed Chair for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, University of Colorado Cancer Center
  • Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, School of Allied Health Professions, Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Distinguished Faculty Award, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation Excellence Award for Health Services, Policy and Clinical Care
  • Outstanding Researcher Award, Department of Medicine, Michigan State University
  • Women in Science, Dentistry, and Medicine Professional Achievement Award, Virginia Commonwealth University

Affiliations

  • Member, National Cancer Policy Forum
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Cancer Survivorship
  • International Health Economics Association
  • American Society of Health Economists

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