Tina Shih

Ya-Chen Tina Shih, PhD, is Professor of Health Economics at Department of Radiation Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, with a joint appointment with the Department of Medicine at School of Medicine and the Department of Health Policy and Management at Fielding School of Public Health. Shih is the inaugural Director of the Cancer Health Economics Research (CHEER) Program at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

Prior to joining UCLA, Shih was a professor and chief of the Section of Cancer Economics and Policy in the Department of Health Services Research at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (2014–2023), where she held a Hubert L. and Olive Stringer Professorship for Cancer Treatment and Research. She received her PhD in Economics from Stanford University in 1997, and was faculty at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (tenure-track Assistant Professor, 1996–1999), University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (2002–2006, tenure-track Associate Professor; 2006–2011, tenured Associate Professor) and University of Chicago (tenured Associate Professor, 2011–2014).

Shih applies methods of health economics, health services research, and pharmacoeconomics in cancer research. Throughout her career, she has received funding as PI from the American Cancer Society, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, National Cancer Institute, and National Human Genome Research Institute. Topics covered in her R01s included research examining the costs, outcomes, and utilization patterns of new oncologic technology for cancer treatment, evaluating economic implications of targeted oral anticancer medications drugs, and developing novel statistical methods to estimate and project cost trajectories of cancer care. Her collaborative research includes the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of cancer screening strategies and behavioral interventions.

Shih has over 300 peer-reviewed publications, 20 invited editorial or commentary, and 7 book chapters. She is a member of the American Cancer Society Guidelines Development Workgroup since 2011 and had served on the National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2011–2017). She is currently an Associate Editor of Journal of the National Cancer Institute, on the editorial board of Value in Health, PharmacoEconomics, and JCO Oncology Practice, and is a member of ASCO Health Services Research committee.