Ron Z. Goetzel, Ph.D.

Research Professor and Director

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Institute for Health and Productivity Studies (IHPS)

Vice President, Consulting and Applied Research

Truven Health Analytics, and IBM Company

Biography

Ron Z. Goetzel is a Research Professor and Director of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Institute for Health and Productivity Studies (IHPS) and Vice President of Consulting and Applied Research for Truven Health Analytics.  Dr. Goetzel is responsible for leading innovative research projects for healthcare purchaser, managed care, government, and pharmaceutical clients interested in conducting cutting-edge research focused on the relationship between health and well-being, medical costs, and work-related productivity.  He is a nationally recognized and widely published expert in health and productivity management (HPM), return-on-investment (ROI), program evaluation, and outcomes research. 

Dr. Goetzel has served as PI on several projects, including  on obesity prevention at the workplace sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a Senior Risk Reduction Demonstration for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), New Opportunities for Healthy Aging in Medicare initiatives, and other demonstrations focused on Cancer Prevention and Treatment for Ethnic and Racial Minorities, and Health Improvement Incentive Structures for Medicaid Beneficiaries.  He currently is PI for the Federal Employee Worksite Health and Wellness Initiative administered by the Office of Personnel Management. 

Dr. Goetzel has led multiple evaluations of health promotion and disease prevention programs in both private and public sectors, including multi-national corporations, the pharmaceutical industry, academic institutions, non-profits and associations, and state and local government.  He also has strong working relationships with vendors in the health promotion industry such as Johnson & Johnson, WebMD, Discovery Vitality, and Pfizer.  Dr. Goetzel’s international work includes projects with Discovery Health in South Africa, the Ministry of Health in Israel, Social Service of Industry (SESI) in Brazil, and The Health Promotion Board of Singapore.

Dr. Goetzel is a Task Force Member of the Guide to Community Preventive Services housed at the CDC, and President and CEO of The Health Project, which annually awards organizations the prestigious C. Everett Koop prize for demonstrable health improvement and cost savings from health promotion and disease prevention programs.  He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Department of Homeland Security Workforce Resilience.

Dr. Goetzel earned his doctorate in Organizational and Administrative Studies and his M.A. in Applied Social Psychology from New York University (NYU), and his B.S. degree in Psychology from the City College of New York (CCNY).  He is located in Bethesda, MD.

Publications