Melinda J.B. Buntin, Ph.D. is a health economist and Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. She joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in July 2023 as part of the University’s Knowledge to Action and Business of Health Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Clusters. She directs the Center for Health Systems and Policy Modeling, based in Washington, D.C., which aims to inform healthcare policy through rigorous empirical research, including predictive modeling and causal inference methods, with a focus on improving healthcare delivery, outcomes, and value.
Professor Buntin joined Johns Hopkins from Vanderbilt University, where she was University Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Health Policy and Medicine, Health, & Society and held the Mike Curb Chair for Health Policy. She was also the founding Chair of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s Department of Health Policy, a multidisciplinary department she established in 2013. During her tenure, she grew the faculty from nine to 22 members and launched both a Health Policy track in the MPH program and a Ph.D. program in Health Policy, helping establish the department as a leading program of its kind.
Prior to joining Vanderbilt, Dr. Buntin held several prominent health policy leadership positions in Washington, D.C. She served as Director of the Office of Economic Analysis, Evaluation, and Modeling at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and as Director of the Health, Retirement, and Long-Term Analysis group at the Congressional Budget Office. She began her professional career at RAND Health.
Dr. Buntin received her Ph.D. in Health Policy with a concentration in economics from Harvard University in 2000. Her research bridges healthcare policy and public health, with a focus on healthcare delivery, costs, and the value created by the healthcare system. Her work seeks to provide actionable insights to healthcare organizations, businesses, and policymakers on improving healthcare delivery and outcomes. Dr. Buntin is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and serves on the boards of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians and the Peterson Health Technology Institute.
Education
- PhD, Management & Organizations, University of Michigan
- BA, Psychology, Pomona College
Research
- Barton, M.A., and Sutcliffe, K.M. (2023) “Enacting Resilience: Adventure racing as a microcosm of resilience organizing,” Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management.
- Sutcliffe, K.M., Mayo, A.T., Myers, C.G., Barton, M.A., and Szanton, S.L. (2022) “Comment on Kunzler et al. (2022) ‘Interventions to foster resilience in nursing staff: a systematic review and meta-analyses of pre-pandemic evidence’,” International Journal of Nursing Studies, Vol. 135 (Nov).
- Barton, Kahn, Maitlis & Sutcliffe, (2022) “Stop Framing Wellness Programs around Self-Care,” Harvard Business Review, April
- Christianson, M., and Barton, M.A. (2021) Sensemaking in the Time of COVID-19. Journal of Management Studies.
- Barton, M.A., Christianson, M., Myers, C.G., and Sutcliffe, K. (2020), Resilience in action: leading for resilience in response to COVID-19. BMJ Leader
- Barton, M.A. & Kahn, W. (2019), Group resilience: The place and meaning of relational pauses. Organization Studies, 40 (9), 1409-1429.
- Kahn, W., Barton, M., Fisher, C., Heaphy, E., Reid, E. & Rouse, E. (2018), The geography of strain: organizational resilience as a function of intergroup dynamics. Academy of Management Review, 43 (3), 1-21.
- Barton, M.A., Sutcliffe, K., Vogus, T., and DeWitt, T. (2015), Performing under uncertainty: Contextualized engagement in wildland firefighting. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 23 (2), 74-83.
- Barton, M.A., & Bunderson, J.S. (2014). Assessing member expertise in groups: An expertise dependence perspective, Organizational Psychology Review, 4 (3), 228 – 257.
- Kahn, W., Barton, M.A., & Fellows, S. (2013). Organizational Crises and the Disturbance of Relational Systems. Academy of Management Review.
- Leonard, D., Barton, G.B., & Barton, M.A. (2013). Make Yourself an Expert – How to pull knowledge from the people around you. Harvard Business Review, April.
Teaching
Current
- Leadership and Organizational Behavior
- Foundations of Innovative Leadership
- Leadership Immersion Capstone
- Leading Resilient Organizations in Turbulent Times