K. Davina Frick headshot

K. Davina Frick, PhD

Professor

Academic Area(s): Economics, Health

Area(s) of Interest: Economics, Healthcare Management, Leadership and Values

SMS
Email: [email protected]
CV
CV: K. Davina Frick
Mobile
Phone: 410-234-9272

K. Davina Frick (she/her) is a professor who teaches business leadership and human values to students in multiple programs and a course on how the U.S. healthcare system in the past, present, and future facilitates innovation.

Frick studied health policy and administration at Penn State, followed by economics and health services research at the University of Michigan. In 1996, she joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she still has joint appointments in both Health Policy & Management and International Health. She also has a joint appointment in the Department of Ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine She moved to a leadership position at the Carey Business School in 2013 and returned to an exclusively faculty role in 2021.

Much of Frick’s research focuses on measuring costs associated with diseases or measuring the cost-effectiveness of new treatments, care systems, or community-based interventions. The most focused area has been public and private eye care, and she was co-chair a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine workgroup on myopia that produced a report in the fall of 2024. In addition, she is co-chaired an AcademyHealth project on health services research’s inclusivity, impact, and innovation. She focuses on research translation, specializing in linking peer-reviewed research with the information business leaders need to make decisions about companies that operate in the real-world marketplace. She plans for future research to focus on mentoring, leadership, and DEIB issues.

Frick has mentored students, faculty, and staff, and spoken about mentoring to many audiences—particularly mentoring as a two-way street. She has focused on DEIB issues as a member of a team that produced a series of videos about LGBTQ+ Narratives in Academia, as part of a second team that produced a video called Business of Pronouns, by serving on the school’s Inclusive Teaching committee as well as the university’s Diversity Leadership Council, and by reading names at graduation since 2014.  She also impacts her fields by serving as an Associate Editor of Women’s Health Issues and the American Journal of Public Health and by serving as Editor pf the SAGE Knowledge Healthcare Management Series.

Education

  • PhD, Economics and Health Services Organization and Policy, University of Michigan
  • MA, Economics, University of Michigan
  • BS, Health Policy & Administration, Pennsylvania State University

Research

Selected publications

  • Hartlage CS, Lee E, Casey LS, Liang F, Frick KD, Barbee H. US State Policies on Gender Marker Changes and Fertility Preservation Coverage: Implications for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Health. Am J Public Health. 2026 Apr 9:e1-e10.   

  • Smith SR, Nakibuuka V, Frick KD, Vaucher YE, Gandhi R, Blair MP, Ells AL, Lusobya R, Namakula L, Ndyabawe I, Erima D, Isenberg SJ, Rodriguez SH. Oxygen blenders for prevention of retinopathy of prematurity are highly cost-effective in Uganda. Front Med (Lausanne). 2026 Mar 27;13:1715127. 

  • Miller KEM, Ty D, Shah P, Shen K, Wolff JL, Frick KD, Kenan J, Thomas KS. Recommendations for How Employers Can Support Family Caregivers: Results From an Expert Delphi Consensus Panel. J Appl Gerontol. 2026 Feb 18:7334648261425717. 

  • Segal JB, Yanek L, Jager L, Okoli E, Hatef E, Dada M, Frick KD. Higher Percentage of Virtual Primary Care Associated With Minimal Differences in Achievement of Quality Metrics. Med Care. 2025 Jan 1;63(1):70-76.

  • Shepherd M, Ho PC, Hines D, Harris-Shapiro J, Liu H, Bravata D, Whaley CM, Frick KD, Drabo EF, Goetzel RZ. A health economic evaluation of digital digestive care management. Am J Manag Care. 2026 Jan 1;32(1):e5-e10. 

  • Everett B, Hobbs A, Wong B, Herdocia E, Linares H, Marroquín A, Yee JF, Frick KD, Lybbert TJ, Wydick B. Refractive error correction and harvest worker productivity in the Guatemalan coffee sector: A quasi-experimental analysis. Glob Public Health. 2026 Dec 31;21(1):2608431.   

  • Ballreich J, Frick KD, Huettner S, Perin J, Gaydos C, Anders J, Rothman R, Trent M. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Technology-Enhanced Community Health Nursing Program for Adolescent Girls and Young Adult Women With Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Sex Transm Dis. 2025 Jun 1;52(6):338-344. 

  • Frick KD, Paul-Ledesma A. Commentary on the urgent need for comprehensive cost-effectiveness studies in temporomandibular disorders. Journal of the California Dental Association. 2024; 52(1): 2432684. 

Working Papers

  • Segal J, Yanek L, Jager L, Okoli E, Hatef E, Dada M, Frick KD. Higher percentage of virtual primary care associated with differences in achievement of some quality metrics.
  • Wong B, Singh K, Ravilla T, Khanna RC, Chase H, Frick KD.The Potential of Eye Health Investment as a Best Buy in Global Health and Development.
  • Collins ME, Alexander G, Guo X, Tariq A, Frick KD. Cost Analysis of a School-Based Vision Program in an Urban, High-Poverty School District.

Teaching

Current

  • Frameworks for Analyzing Healthcare Markets (Course-Lead)
  • Business Leadership and Human Values
  • U.S. Healthcare System: Past, Present, and Future

Honors and distinctions

  • Faculty Service and Mentoring Award (2025)

  • Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Martin R. Cepeda, Jr. Award for Alumni Career Advancement and Development (2024) 

  • Penn State Alumni Association Diversity Recognition Award (2024)

  • Johns Hopkins University Collaborative Leadership Award (2023) 

  • Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Diversity Recognition Award (2022)

  • Interviewer and interview annotator for the LGBTQ+ Narratives in Academia Project (2022)

  • Johns Hopkins University Best Article Award (2017) 

  • Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Wall of Fame (2011)

  • Upper Darby High School Vision Care Section Distinguished Service (2011) 

  • American Public Health Association Excellence in Teaching (Summer 2011)

  • Obesity Economics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Golden Apple Award for Small Class Sizes (2011)

  • Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Student Assembly Golden Apple Award for Internet-based Classes (2011)

  • Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Student Assembly Penn State Schreyer Honors College (2009) 

  • Outstanding Scholar Alumnus Advising, Mentoring, and Teaching Recognition Award (2009) 

  • Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Student Assembly 

Impacts and Engagements

  •  Associate Editor, American Journal of Public Health (2025-Present) 

  • Editor, Sage Knowledge Healthcare Management Series (2024-Present) • Associate Editor, Women’s Health Issues (2020-Present) 

  • Sponsored three years of Pride Events at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing • Spoke about developing a joy-centered personal mission statement at the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders 

  • Multiple talks (including a TedX) on Mentoring 

  • Multiple podcasts and blogs on leadership, values, and DEIB