Michael Schoenbaum (PhD in Economics, University of Michigan, 1995) is a Senior Economist at the RAND Corporation. He is currently leading economic analyses for several large-scale trials to improve care for depression; and analyses of the Palestinian health system, to identify policy options for improving clinical performance and economic viability. His research has included analyses of the costs and benefits of interventions to improve health care quality, evaluated from the perspectives of patients, providers, taxpayers and society; of the effectiveness of public health interventions, including infant nutrition, immunization, and community healthworker programs; of the social epidemiology and economic consequences of chronic illness and disability; and of health risk behavior, particularly cigarette smoking. Dr. Schoenbaum is also co-developer of RAND's Health Cost and Flexible Spending Account Calculators, web-based modeling and decision-support tools to help consumers make health benefits choices. Prior to joining RAND in 1997, Dr. Schoenbaum spent two years at the University of California, Berkeley, as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar in health policy. He is based in RAND's Washington office.