My research uses quasi-experimental methods to study how regulatory and insurance-design choices shape firm-level innovation and household treatment decisions.
Job Market Paper
Psychiatric Medication Use at the Medicaid Eligibility Threshold in States with Separate CHIP
Sole-authored. Submitted to Health Economics (August 2026).
Abstract
In states operating a separate Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), an income threshold separates Medicaid eligibility from CHIP eligibility. Public eligibility continues at that boundary, but coverage terms can change. I estimate local-linear regression discontinuities in past-12-month psychiatric-medication use using the 2016–2019, 2021–2022, and 2024 National Survey of Children’s Health. The sample includes all children ages 6–17 in states without a pre-pandemic 12-month Medicaid coverage guarantee. The estimated share using psychiatric medication is 9.7 percentage points higher just above than below the threshold before the pandemic, 16.9 points higher during the federal Medicaid enrollment freeze, and 7.5 points higher in 2024. After adjustment for five outcomes, only the pre-pandemic difference is statistically significant at 5 percent. Before and during the freeze, estimates are larger among children with a current mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral diagnosis and near zero among those without one. Uninsurance does not change detectably in either period. Program enrollment is unobserved, so the discontinuities are not effects of moving from Medicaid to separate CHIP. Cross-period differences do not identify effects of the enrollment freeze or the 2024 continuous-eligibility mandate.
Working Papers
Market Authorization Holder (MAH) Pilot Program and Innovation Investment in China’s Pharmaceutical Industry
With Tannista Banerjee, Aditi Sengupta, and Shan He. First and corresponding author. Preparing for submission to International Journal of Industrial Organization.
Abstract
Difference-in-differences, triple-difference, and Poisson DID on Chinese pharmaceutical patent data (2015–2021). We identify significant positive effects of the 2016 MAH deregulation on patent authorizations, backward citations, and patent claims for non-Traditional Chinese Medicine companies, with no significant effects for TCM firms.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Co-occurring Physical–Mental Health Conditions in U.S. Children: Evidence from the National Survey of Children’s Health
With Sanket Kanekar. Preparing for submission to Nature Mental Health.
Abstract
Most ACE studies look at mental and physical outcomes one at a time, hiding the comorbidity patterns clinicians actually see. Using the 2022–2024 National Survey of Children’s Health (N = 151,531; pooled 2017–2024 N = 318,866), we classify children into four groups — no conditions, physical only, mental only, and co-occurring — and run survey-weighted multinomial logistic regressions with a 9-item ACE score that excludes disability discrimination to avoid reverse causality.
Children with four or more ACEs show a nearly tenfold elevation in co-occurring risk (RRR = 9.77), substantially higher than mental-only (7.43) and physical-only (1.90). The Relative Excess Risk due to Interaction (RERI) is positive and significant at every ACE level, indicating that co-occurring conditions exceed what one would expect from adding physical and mental risks independently. Financial hardship and household mental illness are the ACE types most strongly tied to the co-occurring profile, with results replicating in pooled 2017–2024 data and holding across alternative outcome definitions, ACE specifications, and demographic subgroups. The findings suggest ACEs activate shared vulnerabilities spanning both health domains and that screening and treatment should address physical and mental health simultaneously.
Works in Progress
Reducing Litigation Risk and Pharmaceutical Firms’ Investment Decisions: Evidence from China’s Drug Patent Linkage System
Food Deserts and Health Outcomes: Evidence from HCUP, 2012–2022 With Ruchika Rungta.
Classifying Product versus Process Innovation in Chinese Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Patents: A Novel PatentBERT–LLM Methodology
Grant Experience
NSF HBCU-EiR — Submitted; not funded Proposal ID: 2602827 · Budget: $1,261,433
“Economic Evaluation of AI-Powered Virtual Reality Wellness Platforms: Enhancing Accessibility, Engagement, and Cost-Effectiveness in Mental Health Support”
- PI: Dr. Sanket Kanekar (Alabama State University)
- Co-PIs: Dr. Kimberly B. Garza, Dr. Travis C. Evans (Auburn University)
- Status: Reviewers rated the proposal favorably and encouraged a resubmission; the team is revising the project for submission to NIH/NIMH.
- Role: Graduate Research Lead — Led proposal writing, budget development, RCT study design, and built the minimum viable product (VR environment + AI/LLM training pipeline).
Open release (coming soon): The minimum viable product will be released free and open-source on GitHub and Hugging Face. I welcome anyone to try it out and share feedback — early input from educators, clinicians, and students will directly shape the next iteration.
Planned extension. Building on this proposal, I am developing a complementary teaching tool in collaboration with the Departments of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling and Psychological Sciences at Auburn University. The goal is to help students bridge the gap between textbook knowledge and real-life practice by letting them rehearse counseling, rehabilitation, and clinical scenarios with AI-driven virtual clients in a controlled, low-stakes environment before working with real populations.