Leighton Ku

Leighton Ku is a Professor of the Department of Health Policy and Director of the Center for Health Policy Research.  As a health policy researcher, a public policy analyst, and an advocate, Dr. Ku's career has been built around the effort to understand and improve access to affordable health care for vulnerable populations. Among his areas of expertise are Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), immigrant health, state health reform, and health care financing and budgets, with an emphasis on strengthening the health care safety net. "I am interested in applying the lessons of research to policies and programs at the federal and state levels, and working with governmental officials, community groups and advocacy organizations to do it," he says. Professor Ku joined SPHHS as a full-time faculty member in 2008, but he has held adjunct positions at GW's School of Public Policy and Public Administration since the early 1990s. During that time, he also served as a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which focuses on improving policies for low- and moderate-income Americans; as principal researcher at the Urban Institute; and as a policy and budget analyst for the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program.