Y. Tony Yang

Y. Tony Yang headshot

Y. Tony Yang

Sc.D., LL.M., M.P.H.

Associate Dean for Health Policy and Population Science

Endowed Professor in Health Policy (Tenured)


Contact:

Email: Y. Tony Yang
Office Phone: 202-994-0879
1919 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 500, 543 Washington DC 20006

Y. Tony Yang is an endowed professor (with tenure) in Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Nursing with a joint appointment at the Milken Institute School of Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management. He is a Program Lead (Cancer Control and Health Equity) with the GW Cancer Center and an affiliate faculty with the GW Cancer Center and the District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR). He is also the Associate Dean for Health Policy and Population Science.

His scholarship explores the effects of law and policy on health care delivery and population health outcomes. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an FDA Regulatory Science Fellow (jointly organized by the National Academy of Medicine), and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-National Center of Health Statistics Health Policy Fellow.

Dr. Yang has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles. His first-authored work has appeared in leading medical (including New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA), health policy and services (including Health Affairs, Medical Care), public health (American Journal of Public Health, Public Health Reports), and health law (Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Food and Drug Law Journal) journals. He is the lead author of a book about vaccine policy published by Springer. The impact of his scholarship is observable in media coverage on outlets such as CNN, Fox News, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today and The Washington Post.

Dr. Yang received an Early Career Award for Excellence from American Public Health Association. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academies of Practice. Dr. Yang has been awarded more than $5.5 million in U.S. federal grants as principal investigator, including an active 4-year R01 from NIH-National Cancer Institute. He has been supported by various foundation funders as principal investigator, including The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Policy for Action, Interdisciplinary Research Leaders and Public Health Law Research). He is a member of AcademyHealth Education Council.


  • Regulatory Science Fellow — Food and Drug Administration and the National Academy of Medicine (formerly Institute of Medicine) (2017-2018)
  • Early Career Award for Excellence — American Public Health Association (2015)
  • Health Policy Fellow, CDC — National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and Academy Health (2009-2010)
  • Y. Tony Yang, Socal, M. P., & Bennett, C. L. (2024). Addressing the Drug-Shortage Crisis in Oncology. JAMA Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2023.5722
  • Yang YT, Olick RS, Shaw J. Religious Exemptions, Public Health, and School Vaccination Requirements JAMA Pediatr. 2023. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.3075
  • Yang YT. Shaw J. Sudden infant death syndrome, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and vaccines: Longitudinal population analyses. Vaccine 2018;36(5):595-598.
  • Delamater P, Leslie T, Yang YT. Change in medical exemptions from immunization in California after elimination of personal belief exemptions. JAMA 2017;318(9):863-864.
  • Yang YT, Sumimasa N, Chen B et al. Generic oncology drugs in developed and developing countries: are they all safe? Lancet Oncology 2016;17(11):e493-e501.
  • Yang YT, Larochelle M, Haffajee RL. Managing Increasing Liability Risks Related to Opioid Prescribing. American Journal of Medicine 2016;130(3):249-250.
  • Delamater P, Leslie T, Yang YT. A spatiotemporal analysis of non-medical exemptions from vaccination: California schools before and after SB277. Social Science & Medicine 2016;168:230-238.
  • Chen B, Yang YT, Bian Q, Cheng X, Bennett CL Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis. PLoS One 2016;11(5):e0155259.
  • Yang YT, Attanasio L, Kozhimannil KB. State Scope of Practice Laws, Nurse-Midwifery Workforce, and Childbirth Procedures and Outcomes Women's Health Issues 2016 pii: S1049-3867(16)00025-6.
  • Delamater P, Leslie T, Yang YT. SB277's "Grandfather Clause" and Nonmedical Vaccine Exemptions in California, 2015-2022 JAMA Pediatrics 2016;170(6):619-20.
  • Yang YT, Delamater P, Leslie T, Mello MM. Sociodemographic Predictors of Vaccination Exemptions Based on Personal Belief in California. Am J Public Health 2016;106(1):172-7.
  • Yang YT, Silverman RD. Social Distancing and the Unvaccinated. New England Journal of Medicine. 2015;372(16):1481-1483.
  • Yang YT, Silverman RD. Legislative Prescriptions for Controlling Non-medical Vaccine Exemptions. JAMA 2015;313(3):247-248.
  • Yang YT, Pomeranz JL. States Variations in the Provision of Bariatric Surgery under Affordable Care Act Exchanges. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases 2015;11(3):715-720.
  • Pomeranz JL, Yang YT. The Affordable Care Act and State Coverage of Clinical Preventive Health Services for Working-age Adults. Journal of Public Health Management & Practice 2015;21(1):87-95.
  • Yang YT, Debold V. A Longitudinal Analysis of the Effect of Non-medical Exemption Law and Vaccine Uptake on Vaccine-Targeted Disease Rates. Am J Public Health 2014;104(2):371-377.
  • Yang YT, Silverman RD. Mobile Health Applications: The Patchwork Of Legal And Liability Issues Suggests Strategies To Improve Oversight. Health Affairs 2014;33(2):222-227.
  • Yang YT, Chen B. Legal Considerations for Social Media Marketing by Pharmaceutical Industry. Food and Drug Law Journal 2014;68(1):39-51.
  • Yang YT, Studdert DS, Subramanian SV, Mello MM. Does Tort Law Improve the Health of Newborns, or Miscarry? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Effect of Liability Pressure on Birth Outcomes. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 2012;9(2):217–245
  • Yang YT, Mello MM, Subramanian SV, Studdert DS. Relationship between malpractice litigation pressure and rates of cesarean section and vaginal birth after cesarean section. Medical Care 2009;47(2):234-242.
  • Yang YT, Studdert DS, Subramanian SV, Mello MM. A Longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of Liability Pressure on the Supply of Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 2008;5(1):21–53.
  • Studdert DS, Yang YT, Mello MM. Are Damages Caps Regressive? A Study of Malpractice Jury Verdicts in California, Health Affairs, 2004; 23:54-67.
  • Harvard University, Doctor of Science in Health Policy and Management
  • Harvard University, Master of Public Health
  • University of Pennsylvania, Master of Laws
  • Health Care Disparities
  • Health Policy
  • Immunization / Vaccines
  • Maternal / Child Health
  • Tobacco Cessation
  • Analytical
  • Deliberative
  • Focus
  • Intellection
  • Futuristic