Lisa Powell

Lisa M. Powell, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Professor and Director in the Division Health Policy and Administration in the School of Public Health and Director of the Illinois Prevention Research Center in the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Powell has extensive experience as an applied micro-economist in the empirical analysis of the effects of public policy on a series of behavioral outcomes. Much of her current research is on assessing the importance of economic and environmental factors (such as food prices, sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes; access to food stores, fast-food restaurants, other eating places, and facilities for physical activity; and, television food advertising exposure) on food consumption and physical activity behaviors and as determinants of obesity, including related disparities. Her work has made substantial contributions to the evidence base for policymakers in the areas of SSB taxes and child-directed marketing. Dr. Powell is the recipient of the 2013 University of Illinois at Chicago Researcher of the Year Award in the Social Sciences. Dr. Powell’s research has been funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and she serves on a number of national and international expert advisory committees.

Powell, Lisa M. and Matthew L. Maciejewski (2018) Taxes and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages. JAMA, 319(3):229-230.

Powell, Lisa M., Roy Wada, Tamkeen Khan, and Sherry L. Emery (2017) Food and beverage television advertising exposure and youth consumption, body mass index and adiposity outcomes. Canadian Journal of Economics, 50(2):345-364.

Powell, Lisa M., Binh T. Nguyen and William H. Dietz (2015) Energy and Nutrient intake from Pizza in the United States. Pediatrics, 135(2):322-330.

Powell, Lisa M., Roy Wada, Joseph J. Persky, and Frank J. Chaloupka (2014). Employment Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes. American Journal of Public Health, 104(4):672-677.

Powell, Lisa M., Jamie F. Chriqui, Tamkeen Khan, Roy Wada, and Frank J. Chaloupka (2013) Assessing the potential effectiveness of food and beverage taxes and subsidies for improving public health: a systematic review of prices, demand and body weight outcomes. Obesity Reviews, 14:110-128.

Powell, Lisa M., and Euna Han (2011) Adult Obesity and the Price and Availability of Food in the United States. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 93(2): 378-384.

Powell, Lisa M., Rebecca Schermbeck, Glen Szczypka, Frank J. Chaloupka and Carol Braunschweig (2011) Trends in the Nutritional Content of T.V. Food Advertisements Seen by Children in the U.S.: Analyses by Age, Food Categories, and Companies, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (JAMA Pediatrics), 165(12):1078-1086.

Powell, Lisa M. (2009) Fast Food Costs and Adolescent Body Mass Index: Evidence from Panel Data. Journal of Health Economics, 28:963–970

Powell, Lisa M. and Yanjun Bao (2009) “Food Prices, Access to Food Outlets and Child Weight”. Economics and Human Biology. 7:64-72.

Powell, Lisa M. and Frank J. Chaloupka (2009) “Food Prices and Obesity: Evidence and Policy Implications for Taxes and Subsidies”. The Milbank Quarterly, 87(1):229-257.

Queen’s University, Department of Economics, Kingston, Canada 1995
Ph.D. Degree in Economics

Queen’s University, Department of Economics, Kingston, Canada 1990
Master’s Degree in Economics

Université de Paris-Sorbonne, Paris, France 1989
Certificate de Langue Française, Niveau supérieur

University of Toronto, Trinity College, Toronto, Canada 1988
Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics and Quantitative Methods