Scholarship and Biography
Constance M. Horgan, Sc.D. is a Professor at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. She is the Co-Director of the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research (SIHPR) and the founding Director of its Institute for Behavioral Health (IBH) where she continues to conduct research. From 2007-2013, she served as Heller’s Associate Dean for Research. Dr. Horgan received her doctorate in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins University. She is a national expert on the organization, financing and quality of behavioral healthcare. Her research is focused on how alcohol, drug and mental health services are financed, organized, and delivered in the public and private sectors and what approaches can be used to improve access to and the quality and effectiveness of the delivery system. Dr. Horgan has led studies for a range of organizations, including the National Institutes of Health (NIAAA, NIDA, and NIMH), the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA); the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), state governments; and foundations, including Robert Wood Johnson. She is the Founding Director of the Brandeis-Harvard SPIRE Center - SUD Systems Performance Improvement Research and Engagement funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, since the mid-nineties; now under its renewal she serves as co-director of its policy core. She also has been instrumental in the establishment of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative (OPRC) at Brandeis University.
Dr Horgan recently completed her term as a member of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. She has served as a member of the National Committee on Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) Behavioral Health Care Measurement Advisory Panel and as a board member for the Massachusetts Health Council. She currently serves as a board member for the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum and the Greater Boston Council on Alcoholism. In 2017, Dr. Horgan received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Public Health Association’s section on Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs. She also received the 2010 Anderson Award from the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) for distinguished contributions in the field of addiction, research, training and evaluation.