Ellicott C. Matthay, PhD

Dr. Matthay is a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy within the Division of Epidemiology in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the epidemiology and social determinants of self-directed and interpersonal violence and substance use-related harms, with the goal of identifying effective public policy solutions to these challenges. She specializes in the measurement and evaluation of local policies, econometric and biostatistical approaches to causal inference, small area and geospatial modeling, and analyses of large administrative health datasets. Dr. Matthay’s research established the effectiveness of a range of novel state and local programs and policies in reducing firearm injury, providing rigorous evidence that has informed public policy responses to violence. She has deeply studied state and local cannabis legalization policies, with the goal of supporting policymakers and regulators in selecting and scaling policies and regulations that are likely to protect public health. She has also published extensively on causal inference methodology with a focus on identifying and solving challenges to rigorously evaluating the causal effects of public policies on health.

Dr. Matthay’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. She has seven years of experience leading large, federally funded research grants. She completed a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) that examined the impacts of local alcohol and cannabis control policies on self-directed and interpersonal violence. As Contact PI, she currently leads three R01 Awards. The first, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tests the effectiveness oflocal economic support and alcohol control policies as solutions to community firearm violence. The second, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), examines the short- and long-term effects of disasters on drug overdose rates and aims to identify policies with the greatest potential to buffer people who use drugs from excess overdose mortality during future disasters. The third, funded by NIAAA, aims to reduce the population burden of suicidal thoughts and behaviors by developing precision prevention strategies that improve access to mental and substance use disorder treatment for the population subgroups who need it most.

Dr. Matthay has authored 87 peer-reviewed manuscripts, including articles in The Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Addiction, and International Journal of Drug Policy. The exceptional rigor, creativity, and impact of her work were recognized by the Society for Epidemiologic Research with the prestigious Tyroler Student Paper Prize in 2017 and the Lilienfeld Postdoctoral Paper Prize in 2021, and by the Research Society for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms with an Equity and Justice Award in 2024. Her work has been cited by national scientific organizations and societies, policymakers, regulators, and national media outlets including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and WIRED.