Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (Penn LDI)

What Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (Penn LDI) does

Penn LDI (the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics) is a nonprofit academic research institute embedded within the University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1967 by Leonard Davis to bring together medicine, insurance, and economics research following the enactment of Medicare. It operates as Penn's hub for health care delivery, health policy, and population health, connecting and amplifying more than 500 Senior and Associate Fellows across the Perelman School of Medicine, Wharton School, Penn School of Nursing, the School of Arts & Sciences, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Core activities include funding pilot research ($622K+ annually), distributing COVID-19 rapid response grants, training early-career researchers through programs such as the Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research (SUMR) and GEAR Up programs, hosting symposia and working groups, publishing a bi-weekly affiliate newsletter and a monthly national newsletter, and disseminating research to policymakers via testimony and op-eds. Cumulative output includes 12,100+ peer-reviewed journal articles published 2021–2025 and $179M+ in external grant funding awarded to its Fellows over that period. The institute's underlying research stack relies on health services research methodologies, including causal inference techniques that use machine learning to estimate propensity score weights, advanced sampling designs for hard-to-reach populations (e.g., homeless individuals), and data mining of epidemiologic surveillance data in collaboration with the Penn Institute for Biomedical Informatics. Penn LDI is wholly owned and governed by the University of Pennsylvania and does not sell commercial products; it generates no product revenue, pricing its fellowships, events, and research outputs at zero and operating instead on grant funding from federal agencies (NIH, CDC), foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and private donors, while pursuing a community-led go-to-market centered on convening multidisciplinary Fellows, shaping policy debates, and providing evidence to improve U.S. health care delivery and population health.

Name

Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (Penn LDI)

Legal name

Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics

Website

https://ldi.upenn.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Penn LDI is the University of Pennsylvania's hub for health economics, health policy, and population health research, connecting 500+ Fellows across Penn's schools and CHOP to produce peer-reviewed evidence, influence health policy, and train the next generation of health services researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Health Economics Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAJAOAM

Global Health Research, Clinical Trials & Product Development Partnerships (PDPs)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Global Health Initiatives & Partnerships

Keywords

• Health economics research
• Health policy analysis
• Population health research
• Health services research
• Academic research institute

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

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, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. External Grant Funding: LDI Fellows have received over $179M in external grant funding for health services research projects spanning various domains including health policy, health care delivery, and population health
2. LDI Pilot and Research Grants: LDI awards internal research grants including $622K+ in research grants to support early-stage investigations and pilot projects that enable researchers to advance to larger external grants

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Penn LDI is a university research institute that connects and amplifies more than 500 Fellows across the University of Pennsylvania to conduct collaborative, multidisciplinary research on health care delivery, health policy, and population health. It produces peer-reviewed research outputs, hosts events and working groups, awards pilot research grants, and runs training programs such as the Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research (SUMR) program. Research findings are disseminated through journals, newsletters, policy briefs, media, and direct engagement with policymakers.

Product overview

Penn LDI is an academic research institute at the University of Pennsylvania, not a product company. It serves as Penn's hub for health care delivery, health policy, and population health research. The organization connects and amplifies over 500 Fellows across the University and trains the next generation of researchers through various programs including the Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research (SUMR) program, pilot research grants, and COVID-19 rapid response grants. Penn LDI publishes two newsletters (a bi-weekly edition for Penn/CHOP affiliates and a monthly edition for national audiences), hosts events and seminars, and conducts research across multiple focus areas including health equity, health care access and coverage, and population health. The organization does not offer technology products or services in the traditional sense.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research (SUMR) Program A research training program for undergraduate students that provides mentored health services research experience at the University of Pennsylvania; designed for students interested in health economics and health services research careers.

Quantifiable outcome

• $179M+ in External Grant Funding awarded to LDI Fellows
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 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

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered secondary and core.

• Indlela nudge unitsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Behavioral economics research and capacity-strengthening initiative co-founded in South Africa in 2020 by Harsha Thirumurthy
• Perelman School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPenn LDI's primary academic partner providing clinical and health services research expertise across all major medical specialties including surgery, oncology, nephrology, and primary care
• Wharton SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides business, economics, and health care management expertise including faculty in health care management, organizational behavior, and management
• Penn School of NursingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides nursing and health outcomes research expertise through faculty including those in the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor pediatric research partner providing clinical research opportunities and faculty participation in LDI programs including PolicyLab and clinical effectiveness research
• Botswana-UPenn PartnershipsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership building informatics education and epidemiologic research capacity in Botswana through collaborative research initiatives
• Penn Institute for Biomedical InformaticssecondaryTechnology or IntegrationCollaboration on biomedical informatics research and AI approaches to mining epidemiologic surveillance data

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Elite public health school producing large-scale health services and health economics research, training graduate researchers, and shaping national health policy. Comparable scope and influence to Penn LDI but at much larger scale.
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Largest U.S. school of public health with deep health services research, policy analysis, and global health programs. Comparable function as a multidisciplinary health research hub with substantial NIH funding.

Direct peers

• Urban Institute Health Policy Center: Nonprofit research organization producing health economics and policy research on coverage, access, and equity. Comparable focus on rigorous evidence-based policy research informing federal and state decision-makers.
• RAND Corporation Health Care Division: Independent research organization with a major health services and health economics research portfolio that influences U.S. policy. Comparable mission of producing rigorous research to improve health care delivery and policy.
• Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy: University-anchored health policy and health economics research institute at Duke University. Most direct peer: conducts multidisciplinary health services, payment, and policy research influencing federal and state decision-makers, just like Penn LDI.
• Commonwealth Fund: Private foundation funding health policy and health services research to improve U.S. health care. Comparable role as a thought leader producing evidence used by policymakers, though structured as a foundation rather than a university institute.
• Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF): Nonprofit organization focused on health policy research, analysis, and journalism. Comparable influence in shaping national health policy debates, including Medicare, Medicaid, drug pricing, and coverage.
• Stanford Health Policy: Stanford-affiliated health policy and health economics research initiative producing influential policy research and convening academic experts. Comparable function as a university-anchored hub bridging economics, medicine, and policy.
• National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Health Care Program: Leading economics research network with a dedicated Health Care Program producing high-impact health economics working papers. Comparable role as a hub for academic health economics researchers and policy influencers.

Emerging players

• Brookings Institution - Economic Studies (Health): Think tank producing health economics and policy research influencing federal decision-makers. Comparable role in shaping national health policy through rigorous economic and policy analysis.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/LDIvideo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pennldi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (Penn LDI)