Arleen Leibowitz, PhD

Arleen Leibowitz, PhD, is a health economist with over 25 years of experience in HIV research, beginning with her leadership of the economics team of the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study. Currently, she directs the Policy Impact Core of the UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services (CHIPTS), where her research examines HIV testing among at-risk groups as well as the use and financing of medical care for persons living with HIV (PLWH) and at risk for HIV. Her analyses examine the role of public policies on HIV detection, linkage to care, transmission, adherence, and viral suppression. She has examined Medicaid costs of treating HIV, the effects of the Affordable Care Act on treatment for PLWH, and whether HIV specialists provide high quality care for non-HIV comorbidities of PLWH. Dr. Leibowitz also brings a policy perspective to examining HIV prevention, including the impact of California budget cuts on HIV testing and prevention and the analysis of biomedical prevention strategies including male circumcision and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP). Her cost-effectiveness analysis of condom distribution in jails showed that the savings to society resulting from reduced costs of treating the HIV infections averted would more than offset the cost of the program. Dr. Leibowitz mentors graduate students, infectious disease fellows, junior research investigators and community partners, particularly those who wish to develop or expand their ability to conduct Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER). She has provided training in CER to both students and public health officials in the U.S. as well as to audiences in Beijing, China and Bangkok, Thailand.