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Austin Henderson imagePhD (California)

Email austin.henderson@otago.ac.nz
Room 603, 6th Floor, Otago Business School

Dr Henderson is a behavioural and health economist with a focus on identifying scalable interventions to improve public health and health equity.

Prior to joining the University of Otago in 2025, Dr Henderson was a Research Assistant Professor at the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, where he worked extensively on programs related to health in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. In particular, Dr Henderson was the senior health economist on a large National Institutes of Health funded study of COVID-19 among AI/AN peoples and has authored numerous manuscripts assessing the relationships among COVID-19 infection, job loss, and the social determinants of health, among other topics.

He received his PhD in Behavioural Economics from the University of California San Diego in 2020, and earned his BA in Economics from Pomona College in 2014.

Dr Henderson's research interests include cash transfer programs, Indigenous food sovereignty, the social determinants of health, and healthy aging. Dr Henderson is originally from Spokane, Washington. He is an avid home brewer, cook, and fermenter.

Publications

Henderson, A., Namdul, T., Ferguson, G., London, S., MacLehose, R., & Buchwald, D. (2026). Lessons learned from responses to COVID-19 pandemic in rural, Indigenous, and isolated populations in the US and India: A qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 26, 83. doi: 10.1186/s12913-025-13719-0 Journal - Research Article

Boyd, A. D., Henderson, A., Uddin, A., Amiri, S., MacLehose, R. F., Manson, S. M., & Buchwald, D. (2025). Communication about COVID-19 with urban American Indian and Alaska Native peoples: The role of health literacy, trust, and information source. Journal of Public Health, 47(3), 460-468. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdaf050 Journal - Research Article

Henderson, A., Schaefer, K., MacLehose, R., Manson, S. M., & Buchwald, D. (2025). Barriers to COVID-19 testing among American Indian and Alaska Native people: Comparing perspective of patients and providers. Public Health Reports, 140(5-6), 514-521. doi: 10.1177/00333549251341242 Journal - Research Article

Namdul, T., MacLehose, R., Pasang, T., Madesclaire, O., Gyatso, G., Henderson, A., & Buchwald, D. (2025). Community-based participatory research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias among Tibetan Buddhist monks in South India: The Lifestyle Assessment and Monastic Aging Study (LAMAS). Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21, e70834. doi: 10.1002/alz.70834 Journal - Research Article

Henderson, A., Uddin, A., MacLehose, R., Manson, S. M., & Buchwald, D. (2025). Relationships among COVID-19 contraction, job loss, and food insecurity in American Indian and Alaska Native peoples. Journal of Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s40615-025-02561-z Journal - Research Article

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