Sezen Ozcan Onal, PhD, MA
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Policy and Management
Dr. Onal holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, an M.A. in Economics from the University of Missouri–Columbia, and a B.S. in Economics from Istanbul University.
Her research focuses on health economics, with particular attention to how policy reforms influence access to care, healthcare utilization, financial protection, and the health and economic well-being of individuals, particularly those in underserved and vulnerable populations. She is also deeply engaged in investigating the social determinants of health, using both direct measures and systems-level analyses to understand how structural and community-level factors shape health outcomes.
Prior to joining SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Dr. Onal served as a researcher at the Center for Public Health Systems at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, where she contributed to public health services and systems research for over two years.