Frances Lynch, PhD, MSPH, is a health economist whose research focuses on the organization and financing of care for people with mental health conditions. Her work has particularly focused on mental health and developmental conditions in children and the economic impact of these conditions on families. She has extensive experience conducting economic evaluations of complex behavioral interventions including interventions for depression and anxiety disorders.
Dr. Lynch has been the principal investigator or co-investigator on more than 20 grants from the National Institutes of Health. She recently completed a four-year study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health that assessed the economic impact of autism spectrum disorder on families.
Dr. Lynch has also conducted methodological research on quality of life in mental health conditions and methods for economic evaluation of interventions for mental health disorders. She recently completed a study examining the cost-effectiveness of an intervention to treat anxiety and/or depression in youth, studies examining the prediction of suicide and self-harm, and a study examining diagnoses and services for youth in foster care. She is currently working on several studies that investigate risk factors for suicide and potential benefits of suicide prevention interventions.
In addition to her work at CHR, Dr. Lynch holds an appointment as a senior investigator at OCHIN, Inc., conducting research on populations served in safety net clinics throughout the United States.
Dr. Lynch received her PhD in health economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, where she was the recipient of a fellowship in health economics from the National Institute of Mental Health. Following her doctoral work, Dr. Lynch was a post-doctoral fellow in children’s mental health in the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Lynch also holds a master of science degree in public health policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Selected Publications
- Lynch FL, Dickerson JF, O'Keeffe-Rosetti M, Chow W, Pesa J. Understanding the Relationship Between Depression Symptom Severity and Health Care Costs for Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression. J Clin Psychiatry. 2022; 83(2), 21m13976. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.21m13976
- Lynch FL, Hoopes MJ, Hatch BA, Dunne M, Larson AE, O'Neill A, Pears KC. Understanding Health Need and Services Received by Youth in Foster Care in Community Safety-Net Health Centers in Oregon. J Health Care Poor and Underserved. 2021;32(2), 783–798. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2021.0105
- Lynch FL, Dickerson, JF, Rozenman, M., Gonzalez, A, Schwartz K, Porta G, O'Keeffe-Rosetti M, Brent D, Weersing, V.R. Cost-effectiveness of Brief Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Anxiety and Depression in Primary Care. JAMA Network Open. 2021;4(3), e211778. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.1778
- Lynch FL, Dickerson JF. Societal Costs of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Disorders. In The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Editors, TH Ollendick, SW White & BA White. 2018. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Lynch FL, Dickerson JF, Pears K, Fisher PA. Cost effectiveness of a school readiness intervention for foster children. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2017 Oct;81:63-71.
- Lynch FL, Dickerson JF, Feeny DH, Clarke GN, MacMillan AL. Measuring Health-related Quality of Life in Teens With and Without Depression. Med Care. 2016 Dec;54(12):1089-1097. PMID: 27261639
- Lynch FL. Population health outcome models in suicide prevention policy. Am J Prev Med. 2014 Sep;47(3 Suppl 2):S137-S143.
- Simon GE, Johnson E, Lawrence JM, Rossom RC, Ahmedani B, Lynch FL, Beck A, Waitzfelder B, Ziebell R, Penfold RB, Shortreed SM. Predicting Suicide Attempts and Suicide Deaths Following Outpatient Visits Using Electronic Health Records. Am J Psychiatry. 2018 May 24:appiajp201817101167. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2018.17101167. PMID:29792051
- Ahmedani BK, Stewart C, Simon GE, Lynch F, Lu CY, Waitzfelder BE, Solberg LI, Owen-Smith AA, Beck A, Copeland LA, Hunkeler EM, Rossom RC, Williams K. Racial/Ethnic differences in health care visits made before suicide attempt across the United States. Med Care. 2015 May;53(5):430-5. PMCID: PMC4397662