Paula Lantz

Core faculty

Paula Lantz

James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy; Director, BA Programs

A social demographer, Lantz studies the role of public policy in improving population health and reducing social disparities in health. She is currently engaged in research regarding innovative financing approaches for supportive housing among Medicaid beneficiaries, and also on how COVID-19 is exacerbating existing social and health inequalities in the U.S.

News

Death by a thousand federal cuts: Current executive actions will not Make America Healthy Again, says Lantz

Apr 9, 2025 The Milbank Quarterly

Paula Lantz highlights an “overt disconnect” between the creation of President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission and his administration's concurrent actions that reduce federal funding for public health...

News

Undergrads meet with global leaders in Brussels, find resolve amid global uncertainty

Mar 28, 2025

When 15 public policy undergraduates touched down in Brussels, Belgium in March, they knew they were visiting Europe’s capital at a pivotal...

News

Lantz named to prestigious commission to address U.S. societal resilience

Feb 14, 2025

Paula Lantz, James B. Hudak Professor of health Policy, has been named to a new commission convened by the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. The commission is tasked with recommending how to enable communities to prepare for, resist, and...

Publication

The role of state ballot initiatives in abortion policymaking has peaked, Lantz says

Dec 18, 2024

Since the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, state ballot measures, which allow citizens to vote on state constitutional amendments and laws, have become a significant form of abortion policymaking. Paula...

State & Hill

Faculty news, fall 2024

Dec 17, 2024

William G. Axinn is the interim director of the Ford School’s International Policy Center. He recently published “Early-life risk factors for depression among young adults in the United States general population: Attributable risks and gender...

Top row (from left to right): Sarah Cohodes, Yusuf Neggers, Morela Hernandez, Paula Lantz. Bottom row (from left to right): Katherine Michelmore, Yousif Hassan, Barry Rabe, Kevin Stange.

News

Policymakers discuss whether states can pull off single-payer healthcare

Oct 8, 2024

Though millions of Americans still lack health insurance coverage, federal healthcare reform has stagnated since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Facing the prospect of continued federal inaction, policymakers at the state level are exploring...

Publication

Lantz urges rigorous research into the effects of abortion policy

Aug 28, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court 2022 Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health decision significantly altered the public policy landscape for abortion care, and created a critical need for objective and high-quality abortion policy evaluation research, according...

News

Ford School events highlight policy, civic engagement, and Conversations Across Differences

Aug 28, 2024

The Ford School has an exciting and diverse series of events this fall, designed to encourage policy debate, civic engagement, and Conversations Across Differences in a number of ways for students, faculty, staff, and the wider U-M and general...

News

Axinn and Lantz to lead Ford School’s International Policy Center

Jul 11, 2024

William Axinn will serve as interim director of the Ford School’s International Policy Center (IPC) beginning on August 1, 2024. Paula Lantz will serve as interim associate director of IPC and focus on overseeing and leading a review of the Ford...

News

Christiana Verdelus named the inaugural winner of the Ali Family Memorial Writing Prize

Jul 9, 2024

Recent graduate Christiana Verdelus (MPP ‘24) has won the inaugural Ali Family Memorial Writing Prize for her work, “Why Michigan's Certificate of Need Law Must be Repealed to Improve Black Maternal Health.”Verdelus’s paper addresses the problem of...

Publication

State bans on ‘divisive concepts’ could stifle population health research

Apr 25, 2024

Ten states have passed legislation that prohibits teaching and mandatory training for students, faculty, and staff in public higher education on specified 'divisive concepts' related to race and sex. In four of these states, the bans extend to all...

State & Hill

Faculty news, spring 2024

Apr 24, 2024

Kamissa Camara chaired the Bipartisan Senior Study Group for the Sahel at the U.S. Institute of Peace. The study group’s comprehensive report critically assesses opportunities for peace, security, and economic development in the Sahel.Charlotte...

(Top row, left to right) Fullerton Rico, Hills, Holz, Jacob, and Leiser (Bottom row, left to right) Morenoff, Raimi, Shipan, Spencer, and Stevenson

News

Highlights from the Dean's Symposium

Apr 21, 2024

Two days of panels, chats, and keynotes focused on examining and seeking solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face in Michigan, in the United States, and across the globe. More than 400 students, faculty, staff, and friends attended in...

News

Stacey Abrams, other policymakers and leading scholars to join Ford School symposium

Mar 12, 2024

The Ford School of Public Policy is happy to announce the Dean’s Symposium, which will take place April 11 and 12 at Weill Hall, with the theme, “Policy Innovation for Our Times.” The two days will feature keynote appearances by voting rights...

State & Hill

Faculty news, fall 2023

Dec 12, 2023

Axelrod's adventures Robert Axelrod, William D. Hamilton Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, writes about the difficulties and rewards of interdisciplinary collaboration in his new autobiography, A Passion for Cooperation: Adventures...

Headshots of Axelrod, Cavaillé, Michelmore, Neggers, Ostfeld, Parthasarathy, Pilkauskas, Stange, Torres, and Weiss

News

Lantz and Young among new senior fellows in Michigan Society of Fellows

Nov 17, 2023

The Michigan Society of Fellows is welcoming its newest cohort of 13 senior fellows, including the Ford School's Paula Lantz and Alford Young. The new senior fellows will join the 16 who were appointed in years past to help create a spirited...

News

Lantz and Young honored with prestigious U-M awards

Oct 27, 2023

Ford School professors Paula Lantz and Alford A. Young Jr., were among 29 faculty recognized by the University of Michigan provost for their scholarly contributions, teaching, and service at an awards ceremony on October 23, 2023. Lantz and Young...

Watkins-Hayes, Lantz, Young Jr., and Ono at Faculty Awards

News

Lantz launches online course about public policy fundamentals

Sep 25, 2023

A new open online course available on Michigan Online helps learners understand the fundamentals of public policy and how policy can confront societal challenges in social welfare, public health, the environment, education, criminal justice, and...

News

PPIA students reflect on their summer of study and social life

Aug 2, 2023

What are the dynamics of inequity in labor markets? How do we determine appropriate categories for people in a multicultural society? How is the U.S. approach to ethnicity and nationality different from what they are doing in Europe? These were...

Group of PPIA students posing in front of Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy courtyard

News

Four named University Diversity and Social Transformation Professors

Jul 20, 2023

Four U-M faculty members have been named University Diversity and Social Transformation Professors for their exceptional contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion through research, teaching and service. The Board of Regents approved the...

Paula M. Lantz, Antoinette Louise Toppin, Kyle P. Whyte and Alford A. Young Jr.

News

Ford School expert: One year after Dobbs decision, restrictive abortion laws part of a 'willful policy vacuum'

Jun 26, 2023

As the one-year anniversary passes on the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade—and with it the constitutional right to an abortion—University of Michigan public policy professor Paula Lantz offers insights on the ramifications of that...

Publication

Declaring the “end” of the pandemic presents short- and long-term hazards - Lantz

Jun 7, 2023

The World Health Organization declared of an end to the COVID-19 pandemic’s global public health emergency status on May 5, 2023. On May 11, many of the U.S. federal pandemic-related public health and economic actions came to an end. Ford School...

In the Media

Lantz fact-checks unfounded unsafe medication abortion claims

May 23, 2023 USA Today

Paula Lantz, USA Today: Medication abortion is safe, and a large number of studies validate this, according to Paula Lantz, an abortion policy expert at the University of Michigan. The New York Times analyzed over 100 studies spanning countries and...

News

Ford School's Paula Lantz: Implications of restrictive abortion policies on maternal health, social welfare

May 10, 2023

Restrictive abortion policies in the U.S. are predicted to have negative effects on maternal health, women's economic opportunities and social welfare systems. A multidisciplinary team of experts from the University of Michigan warns that...

State & Hill

Faculty News, spring 2023

May 3, 2023

Dominique Adams-Santos, Celeste Watkins-Hayes, and PhD candidate Kayonne Christy contributed a chapter, "Narratives in Context: Locating Racism and Sexism in Black Women's Health Experiences," to The Routledge Companion to...

Headshots of Kathryn M. Dominguez, Rusty Hills, Morela Hernandez, Brian Jacob, Barry Rabe, Megan Stewart, David Thacher, Christina Weiland

Publication

Lantz, Michelmore & Pilkauskas celebrate 100 years of ‘The Milbank Quarterly’ with special issue

Apr 25, 2023

In celebration of its 100th anniversary, The Milbank Quarterly published “The Future of Population Health: Challenges and Opportunities,” a special issue of 36 articles by a diverse set of leading and emerging scholars. Edited by Paula Lantz, James...

Headshots of Paula Lantz, Katherine Michelmore, Natasha Pilkauskas

News

Lantz warns of medicalization of public health

Mar 19, 2023

How does the medicalization of public health undermine effective community-based governance responses? Paula Lantz, James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy, dove into this question on Ethics Talk, a podcast produced by the American Medical...

News

Advancing Health Policy Research and Reducing Social Disparities in Health

Mar 13, 2023

Paula Lantz, PhD, joins Michigan Minds to discuss the social determinants of declining birth rates, the role of public policy in improving population health and reducing social disparities in health, and the particular importance of recognizing...

News

Collins fights for ‘an economy that works for all’ at Boston Federal Reserve

Jan 16, 2023

A recent Bloomberg article confirmed what the University of Michigan and the Ford School already knew—Susan Collins, former provost and dean, is thriving as the president of the Boston Federal Reserve. As the first Black woman to lead a regional...