Wendy Max, PhD

Dir Emerita & Prof Emerita
Institute for Health & Aging
+1 415 476-8023

Wendy Max, Ph.D. is Professor of Health Economics and Co-Director of the Institute for Health & Aging at the University of California, San Francisco. She has been on the faculty at UCSF since 1987. Dr. Max holds a PhD in economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her recent research has focused on modeling the economic impact of tobacco on healthcare expenditures. She has estimated national costs of smoking; costs to Medicare, Medicaid, and private payers; costs in California; and the impact on communities of color. She is currently developing models of the impact of secondhand exposure on healthcare expenditures in California and the US. Her other current projects include evaluating an integrated primary healthcare program in rural Malawi and looking at the economic impact of hurricane Katrina on the primary healthcare safety net in New Orleans. Dr. Max has also conducted studies related to the economic impact of Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and injuries.

Publications: 

The economic impact of tobacco smoking and secondhand smoke exposure in Jordan: estimating the direct and indirect costs.

Journal of medical economics

Alkhatib NS, Massad E, Rashdan O, Max W, Halloush S, Abumansour H, Alkhatib A, Karasneh RA, Al-Shatnawi S, Qirim T, Hawari F, Alkhatib S

Smoking-Attributable Health Care Expenditures for US Adults With Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease.

JAMA network open

Gu D, Sung HY, Calfee CS, Wang Y, Yao T, Max W

Association between tobacco product use and respiratory health and asthma-related interference with activities among U.S. Adolescents.

Preventive medicine reports

Yao T, Lea Watkins S, Sung HY, Wang Y, Gu D, Chen Lyu J, Lightwood J, Max W

Potential Mediators for Treatment Effects of Novel Diabetes Medications on Cardiovascular and Renal Outcomes: A Meta-Regression Analysis.

Journal of the American Heart Association

Rodriguez-Valadez JM, Tahsin M, Masharani U, Park M, Hunink MGM, Yeboah J, Li L, Weber E, Berkalieva A, Avezaat L, Max W, Fleischmann KE, Ferket BS

Cardiovascular and Renal Benefits of Novel Diabetes Drugs by Baseline Cardiovascular Risk: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Meta-regression.

Diabetes care

Rodriguez-Valadez JM, Tahsin M, Fleischmann KE, Masharani U, Yeboah J, Park M, Li L, Weber E, Li Y, Berkalieva A, Max W, Hunink MGM, Ferket BS

Cigarette gifting among non-smokers in China: Findings from the International Tobacco Control China Survey.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Lyu JC, Sung HY, Yao T, Jiang N, Quah ACK, Meng G, Jiang Y, Fong GT, Max W

Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among Young Adults by Race and Ethnicity: Evidence From the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study.

The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine

Watkins SL, Pieper F, Chaffee BW, Yerger VB, Ling PM, Max W

Receiving and giving electronic cigarettes as gifts in China: Findings from International Tobacco Control China Survey.

Preventive medicine reports

Lyu JC, Sung HY, Yao T, Quah ACK, Jiang Y, Fong GT, Max W

Association between e-cigarette use and food insecurity among low-income adults.

Tobacco control

Gu D, Max WB, Yao T, Wang Y, Keeler C, Sung HY

Electronic cigarette knowledge, attitudes and use among students at a university in Hangzhou, China.

Tobacco induced diseases

Fang J, Ren J, Ren L, Max W, Yao T, Zhao F

The association of California's Proposition 56 tobacco tax increase with smoking behavior across racial and ethnic groups and by income.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Keeler C, Wang Y, Max W, Yao T, Gu D, Sung HY

Estimating Long-Term Health Utility Scores and Expenditures for Cardiovascular Disease From the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Circulation. Cardiovascular quality and outcomes

Morey JR, Jiang S, Klein S, Max W, Masharani U, Fleischmann KE, Hunink MGM, Ferket BS

Healthcare Utilization of Menthol and Non-menthol Cigarette Smokers.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Wang Y, Watkins SL, Sung HY, Yao T, Lightwood J, Max W

Estimating The Costs Of Inaction And The Economic Benefits Of Addressing The Health Harms Of Climate Change.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Limaye VS, Max W, Constible J, Knowlton K

The impact of e-cigarette and cigarette prices on e-cigarette and cigarette sales in California.

Preventive medicine reports

Yao T, Sung HY, Huang J, Chu L, St Helen G, Max W

Real-world effectiveness of smoking cessation strategies for young and older adults: Findings from a nationally representative cohort.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Watkins SL, Thrul J, Max W, Ling PM

Cold Turkey and Hot Vapes? A national study of young adult cigarette cessation strategies.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Watkins SL, Thrul J, Max W, Ling P

Effects of cigarette prices on intention to quit, quit attempts, and successful cessation among African American smokers.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Keeler C, Max W, Yerger VB, Yao T, Wang Y, Ong MK, Sung HY

Smoking Behavior in Low- and High-Income Adults Immediately Following California Proposition 56 Tobacco Tax Increase.

American Journal of Public Health

Keeler C, Max W, Yao T, Wang Y, Zhang X, Sung HY

A Community Choir Intervention to Promote Well-being among Diverse Older Adults: Results from the Community of Voices Trial.

The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences

Johnson JK, Stewart AL, Acree M, Nápoles AM, Flatt JD, Max WB, Gregorich SE

Social Support and Patterns of Institutionalization Among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Oh A, Patel K, Boscardin WJ, Max W, Stephens C, Ritchie CS, Smith AK

Estimating the health-related costs of 10 climate-sensitive US events during 2012

GeoHealth

Limaye VS, Max W, Constable J, Knowlton K.

Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants: An Underestimated Workforce for Older Adults with Cancer.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Coombs LA, Max W, Kolevska T, Tonner C, Stephens C

Healthcare Costs of Secondhand Smoke Exposure at Home for U.S. Children.

American journal of preventive medicine

Yao T, Sung HY, Wang Y, Lightwood J, Max W

Economic Impact of Financial Incentives and Mailing Nicotine Patches to Help Medicaid Smokers Quit Smoking: A Cost-Benefit Analysis.

American journal of preventive medicine

Sung HY, Penko J, Cummins SE, Max W, Zhu SH, Bibbins-Domingo K, Kohatsu ND

Healthcare Utilization and Expenditures Attributable to Smokeless Tobacco Use among US Adults.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Wang Y, Sung HY, Lightwood J, Chaffee BW, Yao T, Max W

Polytobacco Use and Nicotine Dependence Symptoms Among US Adults, 2012-2014.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Sung HY, Wang Y, Yao T, Lightwood J, Max W

Infrequent and Frequent Nondaily Smokers and Daily Smokers: Their Characteristics and Other Tobacco Use Patterns.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Wang Y, Sung HY, Yao T, Lightwood J, Max W

Health Care Utilization and Expenditures Attributable to Cigar Smoking Among US Adults, 2000-2015.

Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

Wang Y, Sung HY, Yao T, Lightwood J, Max W

Healthcare costs attributable to secondhand smoke exposure at home for U.S. adults.

Preventive medicine

Yao T, Sung HY, Wang Y, Lightwood J, Max W

Relationship between spending on electronic cigarettes, 30-day use, and disease symptoms among current adult cigarette smokers in the U.S.

PloS one

Yao T, Max W, Sung HY, Glantz SA, Goldberg RL, Wang JB, Wang Y, Lightwood J, Cataldo J

The Association of Menthol Cigarette Use With Quit Attempts, Successful Cessation, and Intention to Quit Across Racial/Ethnic Groups in the United States.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Keeler C, Max W, Yerger V, Yao T, Ong MK, Sung HY

Utilization of a Sobering Center for Acute Alcohol Intoxication.

Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Smith-Bernardin S, Carrico A, Max W, Chapman S

Responsiveness to cigarette prices by different racial/ethnic groups of US adults.

Tobacco control

Yao T, Ong MK, Max W, Keeler C, Wang Y, Yerger VB, Sung HY

Tobacco growing and the sustainable development goals, Malawi.

Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Kulik MC, Bialous SA, Munthali S, Max W

Max et al. Respond.

American journal of public health

Max W, Stark B, Sung HY, Offen N

Sexual Identity Disparities in Smoking and Secondhand Smoke Exposure in California: 2003-2013.

American journal of public health

Max WB, Stark B, Sung HY, Offen N

Comparing the cost-effectiveness of four novel risk markers for screening asymptomatic individuals to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the US population.

International journal of cardiology

van Kempen BJ, Ferket BS, Steyerberg EW, Max W, Myriam Hunink MG, Fleischmann KE

Study protocol for a cluster randomized trial of the Community of Voices choir intervention to promote the health and well-being of diverse older adults.

BMC public health

Johnson JK, Nápoles AM, Stewart AL, Max WB, Santoyo-Olsson J, Freyre R, Allison TA, Gregorich SE

The Cost of Smoking in California.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Max W, Sung HY, Shi Y, Stark B

Polytobacco Use of Cigarettes, Cigars, Chewing Tobacco, and Snuff Among US Adults.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Sung HY, Wang Y, Yao T, Lightwood J, Max W

Home exposure to secondhand smoke among people living in multiunit housing and single family housing: a study of California adults, 2003-2012.

Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine

Chambers C, Sung HY, Max W

Economic evaluation of a telephone- and face-to-face-delivered counseling intervention for smoking cessation in patients with coronary heart disease.

The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care

Berndt N, Bolman C, Lechner L, Max W, Mudde A, de Vries H, Evers S

An evaluation of the FDA's analysis of the costs and benefits of the graphic warning label regulation.

Tobacco control

Chaloupka FJ, Warner KE, Acemoglu D, Gruber J, Laux F, Max W, Newhouse J, Schelling T, Sindelar J

The healthcare costs of secondhand smoke exposure in rural China.

Tobacco control

Yao T, Sung HY, Mao Z, Hu TW, Max W

Health care expenditures attributable to smoking in military veterans.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Barnett PG, Hamlett-Berry K, Sung HY, Max W

Determinants of smoking-induced deprivation in China.

Tobacco control

Yao T, Huang J, Sung HY, Ong MK, Mao Z, Jiang Y, Fong GT, Max W

Predictive value of updating Framingham risk scores with novel risk markers in the U.S. general population.

PloS one

Ferket BS, van Kempen BJ, Hunink MG, Agarwal I, Kavousi M, Franco OH, Steyerberg EW, Max W, Fleischmann KE

Who purchases cigarettes from cheaper sources in China? Findings from the ITC China Survey.

Tobacco control

Yao T, Huang J, Sung HY, Ong MK, Mao Z, Jiang Y, Fong GT, Max W

Deaths from secondhand smoke exposure in the United States: economic implications.

American journal of public health

Max W, Sung HY, Shi Y

Validity study of the K6 scale as a measure of moderate mental distress based on mental health treatment need and utilization.

International journal of methods in psychiatric research

Prochaska JJ, Sung HY, Max W, Shi Y, Ong M

Secondhand smoke exposure at home in rural China.

Cancer causes & control : CCC

Yao T, Sung HY, Mao Z, Hu TW, Max W

Exposure to secondhand smoke at home and at work in California.

Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

Max W, Sung HY, Shi Y

Six climate change-related events in the United States accounted for about $14 billion in lost lives and health costs.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Knowlton K, Rotkin-Ellman M, Geballe L, Max W, Solomon GM

Cigarette smoking and serious psychological distress: a population-based study of California adults.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Sung HY, Prochaska JJ, Ong MK, Shi Y, Max W

Cost-driven injury prevention: creating an innovative plan to save lives with limited resources.

The Journal of trauma

Dicker RA, Lopez DS, Pepper MB, Crane I, Max W

Counting 15 million more poor in India, thanks to tobacco.

Tobacco control

John RM, Sung HY, Max WB, Ross H

The cost of smoking for California's Hispanic community.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Max W, Sung HY, Tucker LY, Stark B

The disproportionate cost of smoking for African Americans in California.

American journal of public health

Max W, Sung HY, Tucker LY, Stark B

Who is exposed to secondhand smoke? Self-reported and serum cotinine measured exposure in the U.S., 1999-2006.

International journal of environmental research and public health

Max W, Sung HY, Shi Y

Economic cost of tobacco use in India, 2004.

Tobacco control

John RM, Sung HY, Max W

The economic burden of breast cancer in California.

Breast cancer research and treatment

Max W, Sung HY, Stark B

The economic burden of smoking in California.

Tobacco control

Max W, Rice DP, Sung HY, Zhang X, Miller L

The economic toll of intimate partner violence against women in the United States.

Violence and victims

Max W, Rice DP, Finkelstein E, Bardwell RA, Leadbetter S

The economic burden of gynecologic cancers in California, 1998.

Gynecologic oncology

Max W, Rice DP, Sung HY, Michel M, Breuer W, Zhang X

The economic burden of prostate cancer, California, 1998.

Cancer

Max W, Rice DP, Sung HY, Michel M, Breuer W, Zhang X

The burden of osteoporosis in California, 1998.

Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA

Max W, Sinnot P, Kao C, Sung HY, Rice DP

Prevalence, costs, and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia: a managed care perspective.

The American journal of managed care

Rice DP, Fillit HM, Max W, Knopman DS, Lloyd JR, Duttagupta S

Estimating the costs of caring for people with Alzheimer disease in California: 2000-2040.

Journal of public health policy

Fox PJ, Kohatsu N, Max W, Arnsberger P

Cost of smoking to the Medicare program, 1993.

Health care financing review

Zhang X, Miller L, Max W, Rice DP

State estimates of total medical expenditures attributable to cigarette smoking, 1993.

Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

Miller LS, Zhang X, Rice DP, Max W

State estimates of Medicaid expenditures attributable to cigarette smoking, fiscal year 1993.

Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

Miller LS, Zhang X, Novotny T, Rice DP, Max W

The high cost of injuries in the United States.

American Journal of Public Health

Rice DP, Max W

Alzheimer's disease. The unpaid burden of caring.

Journal of aging and health

Max W, Webber P, Fox P

Shooting in the dark: estimating the cost of firearm injuries.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Max W, Rice DP

The economic burden of Alzheimer's disease care.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Rice DP, Fox PJ, Max W, Webber PA, Lindeman DA, Hauck WW, Segura E

The lifetime cost of injury.

Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing

Max W, Rice DP, MacKenzie EJ