Isabel O'Malley

Isabel is a PhD student in the School of Public Policy. She is a graduate research assistant with SPP Professor and Economist Dr. Carol Graham at the Brookings Institution, where they are studying the use of community wellbeing metrics in government and policy. Her research interests include program evaluation, improving educational and economic opportunities for young people, and reducing inequality in the structural determinants of health. 

Prior to joining the PhD program, O'Malley was a Project Director in the Disparities Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. In her role as Project Director she led a scoping review of policies and programs aiming to advance racial equity in the academic health sciences for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant. O'Malley also coordinated clinical and community-based research including three randomized controlled trials of behavioral health programs led by community health workers; a youth civic engagement program; a study of Medicaid addiction treatment performance metrics; and the fourth wave of the longitudinal Boricua Youth Study. Her research has been published in journals such as American Psychologist, American Journal of Psychiatry, JAMA Health Forum, Milbank Quarterly, American Journal of Community Psychology, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, and Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. 

O'Malley received her B.A. in Psychology from Hamilton College, with Minors in Music and Creative Writing. In 2018 she was a recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, and studied Therapeutic Radio in Cape Town, London, and Barcelona.