Molly Jacobs

Molly M. Jacobs, SGE, MS, PhD is an Associate Professor at the University of Florida in the College of Public Health and Health Professions Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy. She received her doctoral degree from the George Washington University Department of Economics with a concentration in econometrics and labor economics. She holds a master’s degree in economics from George Washington University and degrees in economics and German from Duke University. She is a health economist and health services researcher whose work utilizes sophisticated econometric, machine learning, and big data modeling techniques to conduct economic evaluation of healthcare, health outcomes, and health expenditures. Her research focuses on health outcomes, healthcare utilization, quality of care, disability, rehabilitation outcomes, and the social determinants of health. Her research integrates large-scale administrative claims, electronic health records, national surveys, and linked population datasets to examine how healthcare systems, policies, and socioeconomic factors influence health outcomes.

Her methodological expertise includes econometric and statistical approaches for complex health data, including longitudinal and multilevel modeling, causal inference, quasi-experimental methods, mediation analysis, fixed and random effects models, generalized estimating equations, survival analysis, and economic evaluation. She frequently applies advanced econometric techniques to Medicare, Medicaid, MarketScan, HCUP, MEPS, HRS, and other large national datasets to evaluate healthcare access, expenditures, utilization, outcomes, and policy impacts.

Dr. Jacobs also incorporates emerging artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and big data analytic approaches into her research to identify patterns in healthcare delivery, predict health outcomes, and support population-level decision-making. Her work leverages large-scale healthcare databases, integrated electronic health records, geospatial and contextual data, and computational analytic tools to address complex questions related to healthcare equity, chronic disease, disability, neuroeconomics, and population health.

Her current research spans women’s health, aging, autism and neurodevelopmental disorders, stroke outcomes, palliative care, chronic disease management, and healthcare equity. She has published extensively across medicine, public health, rehabilitation science, and health services research, including work in high-impact interdisciplinary journals. She currently collaborates on federally and foundation-funded projects supported by agencies including NIH, HRSA, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and has served in leadership roles on grants funded by NIMH and NIDCD.

In addition to her research, Dr. Jacobs is deeply committed to mentoring graduate students and interdisciplinary trainees. She regularly mentors doctoral and master’s students in econometrics, quantitative methodology, healthcare data science, scientific writing, and grant development. Her students have presented at national conferences, received competitive awards and fellowships, and contributed to peer-reviewed publications.

Prior to entering academia, Dr. Jacobs served as an agricultural economist with the USDA and was named a Fulbright Scholar to Berlin, Germany. She currently serves on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Systems for Action Scientific Review Board and has contributed to national initiatives related to health equity, disability, and healthcare policy. Her work on the economic burden of aphasia received the Dean’s Citation Award from the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, and her expertise in disability and rehabilitation outcomes led to her appointment to the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation.