Rutgers University has appointed Lindsay Shea, a nationally recognized scholar in Medicaid policy and autism research, as the new director of the Center for State Health Policy (CSHP). Shea, who currently leads the Policy and Analytics Center at the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute in Philadelphia, will officially assume her role this July following an extensive national search.
In addition to her leadership at CSHP—a unit of the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (IFH)—Shea will join the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Shea is widely credited with pioneering innovative methods for using national Medicaid claims data to improve health outcomes for individuals with complex needs, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As Medicaid is the largest behavioral health insurer in the U.S., Shea’s work has been instrumental in identifying service gaps and service preferences for neurodivergent adults.
“At a time when states are playing an expanded role in shaping health systems, Rutgers and the Center for State Health Policy are uniquely positioned to bridge research and policy,” Shea said. “I look forward to strengthening these connections, so evidence generated at CSHP continues to guide decisions that matter.”
Shea succeeds Joel Cantor, the founding director who established CSHP in 1999. Under Cantor’s 27-year tenure, the Center became a national model for academic-government collaboration, providing the state of New Jersey with data-driven insights on:
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Health System Performance: Improving efficiency and patient outcomes.
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Access and Coverage: Evaluating the impact of Medicaid and the CHIP program.
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Population Health: Linking administrative datasets to address the opioid epidemic and maternal health.
With over $18 million in career research funding and more than 100 authored articles, Shea’s expertise has been critical in addressing the “life-span” challenges of the ASD community, including housing instability and aging. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led teams that were among the first to track vaccination hesitancy and social isolation among autistic adults.
“We are extremely fortunate to have Dr. Shea taking the reins,” Joel Cantor said. “She is an outstanding state health policy scholar and leader. I am confident in her ability to successfully lead us into our next chapter.”
