UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR)

The Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) was founded in 1994 with a mission is to improve the public’s health through high-quality, objective, and evidence-based research and data that informs effective policymaking. CHPR advances its mission through policy analysis, policy-relevant research, public service, community partnership, media relations, and education. Since its inception it has produced high-quality, objective, and evidence-based research and data that have informed effective policymaking and improved the lives of millions of Californians. The CHPR is the premier source of data on the health and health insurance status of California's diverse population and it has made a huge impact on efforts to improve the health of all Californians, particularly those who are underserved. More than any other organization in the California, the Center has made it possible for health issues and challenges to be looked at, understood and addressed based on sound, credible data. The Center has achieved several noteworthy developments and milestones, which include housing the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the nation's largest state health survey and a unique source of data on many ethnic, racial and sexual minority groups that are underrepresented in other surveys. In addition to housing CHIS, the Center has also developed innovative prediction tools that help policymakers such as AskCHIS Neighborhood Edition (NE), which gives users the ability to look at health data at the neighborhood level. The CalSIM microsimulation model, developed in collaboration with the UC Berkeley Labor Center, helped both the California Department of Health Care Services as well as Covered California understand how many people were likely to seek coverage as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was being implemented in 2014. The predicted estimates were proven accurate as the program unfolded. The Center’s research and analysis informs and educates state legislators and policymakers from the smallest counties in the north to sprawling San Diego County in the south on topics ranging from the link between soda and obesity to the effect of food insecurity on vulnerable groups to the inadequacy of federal measures of poverty for senior citizens. The CHPR has partnered with numerous collaborators including The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation and others to train thousands of people in community and advocacy groups to empower themselves by understanding and using health data in their work. In addition to the research and policy analysis capacity, the CHPR disseminates data and research findings across multiple channels to enable a wide range of users to access and utilize its work.  Dissemination modalities include: 

  1. Publishing.  The Center’s Communications department offers a full-service publishing program, enabling researchers to produce high-quality publications in both PDF and printed form.  These publications are disseminated via topic-specific mailing lists to a broad audience of legislators, health advocates, community groups, researchers and the media. 
  2. Web dissemination.  In addition, the Center’s website as well as the website of the Center-administered California Health Interview Survey serve as primary platforms for the dissemination of new research and data. 
  3. Outreach.  The Center also conducts a significant outreach program, in which its publications and data are disseminated at more than a dozen major health conferences each year.  
  4. E-Newsletter.  The Center’s e-newsletter reaches a growing audience of 14,000+ subscribers, including the health policy point people within the legislative and executive offices at the local, state, and national level.  
  5. Media.  The Center’s Communications Department writes and disseminates press releases on select publications to hundreds of health reporters and key policy media across California and nationally.  The Center also releases select press releases through UCLA’s main media relations unit, enabling even wider dissemination to national and international media.  Communications will also schedule media interviews with researchers as appropriate.  As a result of these and other efforts, UCLA experts and publications are cited in hundreds of media outlets each year, ranging from NBC, CBS and Fox News, to The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, to regional media such as KPCC, KPBS, La Opinion and The Sacramento Bee.

CHPR is located in 17,500 square feet of off-campus research space near the School of Public Health. The Center supports its research and public service programs with a strong administrative support unit. The Center is connected to the UCLA IT backbone and all workstations are securely connected to center-level resources that are highly secure. The Center also maintains a HIPAA level secure data center. 

For more information, please visit the Center for Health Policy Research website.

Last updated
January 4, 2024