About Me



I'm Austin Henderson, PhD, an applied economist and decision scientist. I'm currently a Research Assistant Professor of Economics at the Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health (IREACH), part of the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. 

I have particular expertise in experiments (online, lab, and in the field), causal inference, and machine learning. 

Highlighting some of my work, I am the lead author of a study on the cost-efficacy of a randomized controlled trial of a food-delivery program for hypertension management in American Indians. In that study, which is currently under review and available here, I used ordered logistic regression to identify subgroups of patients for whom treatment is effective, and translate treatment effects into quality adjusted life years. I also explore how targeting the intervention on patients who respond well can make the intervention more cost-effective and sustainable.

I am also a co-investigator on Community Organizations for Natives: COVID-19 Epidemiology, Research, Testing, and Services (CONCERTS) project, a large National Institutes of Health funded grant to improve COVID-19 related outcomes among American Indian and Alaska Native peoples. I am the lead author on several forthcoming papers on topics including the social determinants of COVID-19 infection, the economic consequences of infection, and how infection affects stress. I am particularly interested in how COVID-19 infection may have gendered effects.

On the behavioral side of my research, I am interested in how chronic and acute stress systematically modify decision-making, and how to translate these relationships into improved policy.