Paul Hutchinson, PhD

Paul Hutchinson, PhD is a health economist specializing in econometric and economic-evaluation methods for health and development programs. Over a 25+ year career, he has led numerous impact evaluations and health-system strengthening efforts. Notably, he has been the Tulane PI for the USAID-funded Breakthrough Research Project and for two Gates Foundation projects — the evaluation of the MTV Shuga family-planning drama in Nigeria and an impact assessment of the SKY Girls youth anti-smoking program in Ghana — as well as for the external evaluation of the Southern Africa Regional Social and Behavior Change Program, the USAID-funded Northern Uganda Health Integration to Enhance Services Project (NU-HITES), and the Private Sector Partnership-One Project. Building on earlier support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, his behavioral-economics work examines how choice architecture and social norms shape contraceptive uptake and service use.

A current focus of his research is applying modern causal-inference and machine-learning tools — such as double/debiased ML, heterogeneous-treatment-effect models, and cost-effectiveness frameworks — to policy-relevant questions in reproductive health, adolescent health, and health-systems performance. Relatedly, Hutchinson helps lead the School's AI/ML & Data Analytics initiative — organizing the Demystifying AI in Public Health symposium, launching an AI/ML seed-grant program with the Connolly Alexander Institute for Data Science, and developing an AI/ML Speaker Series. He has also served on the University's AI in the Classroom Committee, contributing to AI/ML curricula, policy recommendations, and faculty training.

Hutchinson has designed and implemented large-scale population and reproductive-health surveys in Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Zambia, South Africa, Jordan, and Bangladesh, among others. He has over 60 peer-reviewed publications in addition to more than 75 technical reports, research briefs, and book chapters. Prior to joining Tulane, he was a research associate at the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina. He has 20+ years of experience partnering with Ministries of Health, universities, USAID, and UN agencies (World Bank, UNICEF) across sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the Middle East.

In addition to leading the department's doctoral seminar, he teaches IHSD 8250 Advanced Research Methods focusing on econometric methods for program and impact evaluation — including regression models, instrumental variables, matching methods, and regression discontinuity designs — and co-teaches IHSD 8050 Evidence For Decision-Making focusing on quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches to public health research and evaluation, including experimental and quasi-experimental designs and the use of health information systems for program monitoring. 

He serves as the Program Director of the IHSD PhD program, currently with approximately two dozen currently enrolled students. He has chaired more than a dozen PhD dissertations and served as a member of over 50 other dissertation committees.