Applied Health Policy Institute
Mission
The Applied Health Policy Institute serves as a bridge between academic scholarship on the one hand and policy-related activities as they are happening within real-world systems and political contexts. We translate public health expertise into policy and train public health students with skills they can use to engage in policy activities both during school and when they become professionals.
What We Do
Education
Classes, internships, and continuing education
Research
Research, publications, and resources examining public health policy at state, regional, and national levels
Expertise
Policy and legal analysis to translate public health information and ideas into real policy change
Connection
Collaborative projects with external partners
Courses Offered
Fall
PHP 441/541 OR LAW 441/541 Medicaid: Policy & Politics
This course provides an overview of Medicaid, which is a federal-state partnership program that provides health insurance to low-income Americans. It was funded by Arizona Medicaid health plans and developed with the help of an expert advisory board. It covers topics such as history, law, differences between states, and financing and includes local and national guest speakers.
Spring
PHP 447/547 OR LAW 447/547 Case Studies in State Health Policy
This course coincides with the Arizona Legislative Session each spring. Each student chooses a bill or issue area to follow at the Legislature, while class lectures, discussion, and exercises guide them through each aspect of our government and political system. The final project contributes to real-world legislative work for an organization of their choice.
Our Team
Kirin is a public health lawyer and helped found the Applied Health Policy Institute. She has two Anthropology degrees, including a Bachelor’s in cultural Anthropology from Willamette University and a Master’s in Global Health from Arizona State University, where her studies focused on using community-based participatory research to inform public health policy.
She has worked in several policy-related areas, including policy and legal research and analysis, drafting legislation, rulemaking, litigation, community-based participatory research, and helping candidates form their policy platform. Kirin was a Senior Rules Analyst at the Arizona Department of Health Services, where she drafted regulations, including those adopted in response to the opioid epidemic. Most recently, she worked as a litigator practicing political and constitutional law at the Torres Law Group before joining the University of Arizona. She has taught courses in anthropology, global health, Medicaid, and health policy and regulation. She is particularly interested in health impact assessment, tobacco, Medicaid, and the built environment.
Kirin is an Arizona native passionate about creating healthy communities in her home state and beyond.
Slade is an Arizona attorney and AHPI's Assistant Director. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, receiving the Ralph W. Aigler Memorial Award for his professional and scholarly contributions to the college. Prior to joining AHPI, he served as a law clerk at the Arizona Court of Appeals for four years. He lives in Tucson, where he enjoys outdoor activities in southern Arizona's beautiful desert and mountain landscapes.
Professor Tara Sklar is the Director of the Health Law & Policy Program at Arizona Law, and she also serves as the Faculty Senior Advisor in Telehealth Law & Policy at the Arizona Telemedicine Program and Innovations in Healthy Aging with University of Arizona Health Sciences. Her teaching and scholarly research spans aging law & policy, bioethics, health technology, and professional responsibility. Her work has appeared in the following peer-reviewed journals: New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, and American Journal of Law & Medicine, and is featured on national media outlets Axios, Bloomberg Law, NPR, PBS, among others. Professor Sklar launched and oversees four multidisciplinary, online Graduate Certificates in Health Law and a Master of Legal Studies Health Law & Policy Concentration, which are composed of over 40 courses created in collaboration across seven University of Arizona colleges and global industry leaders.