Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Summer 2023 Fellows:

Langston Buddenhagen ’25, Caden Denning ’25, Sophie Szew ’26

Summer 2024 Fellows:

Summer 2025 Fellows:

Office Description

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is currently seeking students for a Summer Intern Program. ASPE serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of HHS on policy development and is responsible for major activities in the areas of policy coordination, legislative development, strategic planning, policy research, evaluation, and economic analysis. Students will gain experience in a fast-paced and inclusive team-based work environment, contribute to the production of analytic papers, and be exposed to a wide range of health policy issues. The Office of Health Policy works on a wide array of topics relating to the COVID public health emergency, prescription drug pricing, health insurance coverage, access, financing, spending, quality, and data.

Description of the Work

Position Duties and Responsibilities:

Work with a team to develop and execute a policy research project
Help respond to requests from ASPE and Departmental leadership for policy analysis and information on a wide variety of health policy topics and initiatives
Conduct analyses with federal and public data sources
Present research findings at one or more staff meetings

Desired Skills

Strong communication skills, both written and oral
A highly motivated analytic thinker with research skills, quantitative and/or qualitative
Courses or experience in public policy, economics, or public health Interest in connecting and translating research into policy