Duke Elevates Duke-Margolis to a University Health Policy Institute

montage of Margolis Center events. Director Mark McClellan is in the middle

The Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy is now the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, a move that elevates the center and advances Duke University’s commitment to improving health care quality, equity and affordability through health policy.

“Since its founding in 2016, and with the continued generous support of Bob and Lisa Margolis, Duke-Margolis has established itself as a national leader in interdisciplinary health policy education, research and engagement,” said Duke University President Vincent E. Price. “As we celebrate the university’s Centennial, recognizing Duke-Margolis with institute status also advances our university-wide efforts to have a transformative impact on the future of health and health care.”

The Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy is committed to improving health, health equity, and the value of health care through practical, innovative and evidence-based policy solutions. It has done so through programs in health policy education, research and innovation that involve ongoing partnerships with experts across the university and health system. This also includes working with diverse experts and stakeholders beyond Duke to enable practical progress on key challenges to quality, affordable, innovative health care. 

Since its founding through the support of Robert and Lisa Margolis, the Margolis Family Foundation and Duke University, Duke-Margolis has provided a trusted, independent voice in complex health policy conversations.

“Duke-Margolis advances actionable and effective solutions to address the most daunting health care challenges through its health policy analysis and development,” said Dr. Mary Klotman, executive vice president for Health Affairs at Duke University and dean of the Duke School of Medicine. “Duke-Margolis is an ideal partner to advance Duke Health and ensure health care access, quality, and affordability in North Carolina and across the nation.”

“Interdisciplinarity is a Duke superpower because it broadens, enriches and prepares our students to think about and work to solve complex issues in a comprehensive, inclusive way. Duke-Margolis is a model of this crucially important interdisciplinary research and education approach.”

Alec Gallimore

As the university’s hub for health policy education, Duke-Margolis provides experiential, interdisciplinary learning for undergraduate and graduate students across schools at Duke and is a sought-after educational experience. The Duke-Margolis Institute prepares students to apply a critical health policy lens to their professional and personal lives to be changemakers.

“Establishing Duke-Margolis as a Duke Institute acknowledges its impact and importance to the University’s future vision,” said Alec D. Gallimore, provost and chief academic officer of Duke. “Interdisciplinarity is a Duke superpower because it broadens, enriches and prepares our students to think about and work to solve complex issues in a comprehensive, inclusive way. Duke-Margolis is a model of this crucially important interdisciplinary research and education approach.”

With this new Duke recognition, Duke-Margolis will continue to address timely health policy challenges; amplify Duke’s collective ability to support research and education that impacts health policy locally, nationally and across the globe; and deepen Duke’s recruitment and retention of dynamic faculty and scholars who will lead, research, and explore the most pressing health care challenges of the future.

“Duke’s recognition will expand our efforts to meet growing student interest, and the growing policy need, for interdisciplinary research and educational programs to advance health care reform and innovation,” said Dr. Mark McClellan, founding director of Duke-Margolis.

“As the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, we will work to deepen our engagement with Duke faculty and leverage our successful model for collaboration and partnerships to advance Duke’s bold strategic vision and increase our impact on health policy and health reform.”