Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research

What Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research does

Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (IFH) is a multidisciplinary population-health research institute housed within Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Founded in 1985 by Dr. David Mechanic and based in New Brunswick, NJ, IFH operates eight research centers spanning pharmacoepidemiology and treatment science, health services research, state health policy, healthy aging and dementia, biomedical informatics and health AI, climate health, and population behavioral health, supported by a Survey Data Core. The institute conducts both quantitative analysis of large healthcare claims datasets (with linkages to the National Death Index and community-level socioeconomic data) and qualitative research, producing outputs that are translated into peer-reviewed publications (315 in FY23 & FY24 across JAMA, Health Affairs, Cell Reports Medicine, and others) and policy recommendations adopted by state and federal agencies.

IFH's business model is grant-funded research rather than commercial product sales. Revenue is sourced from competitive federal grants (NIH, NCI, NIDA, AHRQ, FDA, CDC, CMS), state government research contracts (notably with NJ Medicaid, mental health, and child welfare agencies), and foundation support, totaling $40 million in research grants and sponsored program awards across FY23 & FY24 across 66 new grants. The institute has 72 employees, 40+ core faculty, and operates governance under Rutgers University as a non-profit academic unit.

IFH serves three primary customer segments: federal and state health agencies that fund and consume its policy research; vulnerable populations including older adults, Medicaid/Medicare recipients, and justice-involved individuals who are the subjects of its health-access research; and healthcare delivery organizations (notably RWJBarnabas Health) collaborating on clinical and health services studies. Distribution occurs through peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs, conferences, direct agency engagement, and pre- and postdoctoral training pipelines (Summer Research Internship Program, Howard Leventhal Scholarship).

Name

Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research

Legal name

Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research

Website

https://ifh.rutgers.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research is a Rutgers University research institute founded in 1985, operating eight centers on population health, pharmacoepidemiology, state health policy, aging, biomedical AI, and climate health, funded by NIH, federal, and state grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Health Research Services

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Health Research Funding Agencies (Public/Quasi-Public) (HLAJALAB)

Keywords

• Population health research
• Health services research
• Pharmacoepidemiology research
• Aging research
• Health policy analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

New Brunswick

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Sponsored Programs: Federal grants from NIH, AHRQ, FDA, CDC and other agencies; state government research contracts; foundation funding. In FY23 & FY24, the institute received $40 million in research grants and sponsored program awards.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Rutgers IFH is a multidisciplinary, translational population health research institute operating 8 research centers spanning healthy aging, pharmacoepidemiology, biomedical informatics, health services research, state health policy, climate health, and population behavioral health. It delivers contracted research services funded by federal grants (NIH, FDA, CDC, CMS), state agencies, and foundation partners, and conducts the NJHealth population cohort study in New Jersey.

Product overview

Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research is a hub for multidisciplinary and translational population health research consisting of eight research centers and programs. The portfolio includes: the Center for Health Services Research (pharmacotherapy and chronic disease management), Center for State Health Policy (state health policy analysis), Center for Healthy Aging Research (Alzheimer's and dementia research), Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science (medication safety and effectiveness), Biomedical Informatics and Health AI Center (machine learning and AI applications), Center for Population Behavioral Health (mental health and substance use research), Center for Climate, Health, and Healthcare (environmental health impacts), and the NJHealth Study (New Jersey's largest population health cohort). Supporting infrastructure includes the Summer Research Internship Program for training future researchers and the Howard Leventhal Scholarship supporting doctoral students in health research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Howard Leventhal Scholarship for Trainees: Annual scholarship program awarding two Rutgers doctoral students $4,000 stipends to pursue dissertation research in population health
• Summer Research Internship Program
• NJHealth Study

Products and services

• Center for State Health Policy A research center focused on state health policy analysis, behavioral health integration into primary care, Medicaid program evaluation, and healthcare access research for state government policymakers.
• Center for Health Services Research Fosters collaborative research on pharmacotherapy and chronic disease management, examining complex factors within health care systems that shape use of health services and treatments, with focus on vulnerable populations including Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries.
• Center for Healthy Aging Research Focuses on healthy aging, Alzheimer's disease research, dementia studies, cognitive neurology, and the relationship between educational attainment and cognitive outcomes in aging populations.
• Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science (PETS) Studies medication use, safety, and effectiveness including treatment for opioid use disorder, antipsychotic medications, juvenile idiopathic arthritis treatments, and substance use disorder research using large claims datasets.
• Biomedical Informatics and Health AI Center Applies machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science techniques to biomedical and healthcare applications including RNA-seq analysis, predictive models, and AI-assisted research methodologies.
• Center for Population Behavioral Health Research center focused on behavioral health, mental health services, substance use disorders, and population behavioral health outcomes.
• Center for Climate, Health, and Healthcare Studies the impact of climate change on health, extreme heat effects on workers, air pollution health impacts, and environmental epidemiology with focus on cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
• NJHealth Study (NJ Population Health Cohort Study) The largest cohort study in New Jersey examining the relationship between stress and health outcomes among New Jersey residents.

Quantifiable outcome

• $40 million in research grants and sponsored program awards in FY23 & FY24
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered moderate, major and core.

• GiveWellmoderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 July 2024IFH team of ethicists provided ethical guidance to GiveWell on evaluating charitable giving impact, including Rutgers faculty from multiple departments.
• Columbia University Department of PsychiatrymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing collaborative relationship for psychiatric research and health services research, including co-authorship on studies examining antipsychotic use in elderly populations.
• RWJBarnabas HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor healthcare system partner for clinical and health services research, including studies on opioid overdose prevention in emergency departments and cancer treatment disruption due to severe weather.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on comparative effectiveness research funded by FDA and AHRQ on prescription drug use, safety, and effectiveness.
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal agency partner for research on Medicaid and Medicare programs, healthcare policy evaluation, and prescription drug oversight.
• National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner on healthcare quality measurement and improvement research.
• State Medicaid, Mental Health, and Child Welfare AgenciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnerships with state agencies for policy research, program evaluation, and healthcare delivery improvement research.
• City University of New York (CUNY)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with CUNY Institute for Demographic Research on study linking extreme heat exposure to work disability among older workers.
• Multiple Rutgers Academic UnitscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborations with departments including Sociology, Economics, Statistics, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Pharmacy, Nursing, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, School of Public Health, and School of Social Work.
• Rutgers HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated health system partner for clinical research and population health initiatives.
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner on various population health studies including education and dementia research.
• Kaiser Permanente NorthwestmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaborator on studies examining education policy impacts on cognitive health outcomes.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Mathematica: Large nonpartisan research organization conducting health policy, Medicaid evaluation, and behavioral health research for federal and state agencies. Comparable contract research model to IFH's state health policy work but with broader commercial consulting reach.
• RAND Corporation Health Care Division: Major policy research organization with deep health services, aging, and behavioral health research portfolios funded by federal contracts. Comparable research model and policy-evaluation focus, though operating at significantly larger scale than IFH.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: Large independent research organization affiliated with the University of Chicago conducting population health, health policy, and aging research with substantial federal funding. Comparable operating model and funder mix, though broader in scope than IFH.

Direct peers

• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Elite academic public health research institution producing population health research across similar domains (aging, pharmacoepidemiology, health policy). IFH explicitly lists Harvard Chan as a research collaborator, and both compete for NIH funding.
• Columbia Mailman School of Public Health: Major school of public health with comparable population health, aging, and health services research portfolios. IFH already has documented collaborative ties with Columbia's Department of Psychiatry, and both serve the greater Northeast corridor.
• UCLA Fielding School of Public Health: Top-tier public health research school with comparable federal grant footprint and population health research portfolio, including aging and health policy research similar to IFH's centers.
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Leading school of public health conducting large-scale health services, policy, and epidemiological research with federal grant funding. Directly comparable as a multidisciplinary population health research institute competing for the same NIH awards.
• Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy: University-based health policy research institute producing federal-facing policy analysis and FDA/CMS-engaged research. Comparable to IFH's policy and pharmacoepidemiology work in scale and federal agency orientation.
• Yale School of Public Health: Academic public health research school with strengths in epidemiology, health policy, and aging research. Comparable scale and funding model, competing for similar NIH and federal grants.
• University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI): Academic health services research and policy institute within an Ivy League university, focused on health economics, policy evaluation, and aging research — directly overlapping IFH's Center for State Health Policy and health services research portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rutgersifh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research