Cathy J. Bradley, Ph.D., is the Associate Dean of Research in the Colorado School of Public Health and the Deputy Director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. She holds the Paul Bunn Chair in Cancer Research. Prior to joining the University of Colorado, she was the founding Chair of the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Bradley is a health economist and received her Ph.D. and M.P.A. from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Dr. Bradley’s research is at the intersection of labor supply, health, and insurance; health disparities; and the costs and outcomes of treatment. Her research explains how when faced with a serious and expensive to treat illness such as cancer, many workers will remain employed to keep employer-based health insurance, despite needs for treatment and convalescence. This research has extended to families and caregivers and their financial consequences. Dr. Bradley’s research informs policies that reduce disparate outcomes and financial burden among people who must make stark choices. In addition, her pioneering research in health equity resulted in an examination of health care delivery for underrepresented people. Dr. Bradley serves on multiple national advisory committees including the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Forum and formerly served on the National Advisory Committee to the Agency for Healthcare Quality & Research. She has received numerous awards and honors including the Women in Science, Dentistry, and Medicine Professional Achievement Award in Leadership and has research portfolio totaling over $30 million.