Alex Schulte

Health Policy PhD Candidate, organizations & management concentration

University of California, Berkeley

Alex is a Health Policy PhD Candidate and Computational Social Science Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in May 2026. Her research uses quantitative causal inference methodologies to analyze how organizational and state policy changes impact provider behavior, access to care, and downstream patient health outcomes, with a particular focus on maternal and child health outcomes.

Alex's dissertation focuses on U.S. Catholic hospitals, with chapters hospital operations, reproductive healthcare, and physician behavior. Her dissertation committee members are Dr. Amanda Brewster, Dr. Becky Staiger, Dr. Lori Freedman, and Dr. Hector Rodriguez.

Alex is currently on the academic job market. Her CV can be found here.

Recent publications

Alex Schulte, Becky Staiger, Hector Rodriguez, Amanda Brewster. “Mission vs. Margin: The Effects of Catholic Health System Ownership on Hospital Operations.” Medical Care Research and Review. July 2025.

Alex Schulte, Meena Subbaraman, Guodong Liu, William Kerr, Pamela Trangenstein, Sarah CM Roberts. “Interactive effects between pregnancy-related alcohol policies and state spirits availability on infant and maternal outcomes.” American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. June 2025.

Alex Schulte, Ariana Bennett, Jennet Arcara, et al. “Experiencing a challenge or delay accessing contraception and contraceptive self-efficacy: Data from a 2022 nationally representative online survey.” Reproductive Health. May 2025.

Works in progress

Alex Schulte, Becky Staiger, Hector Rodriguez, Lori Freedman, Amanda Brewster. "The Effects of Restricted Access to Postpartum Contraception: Evidence from Hospitals with Ethical and Religious Directives."

Alex Schulte, Caitlin Myers, Alejandro Schuler, Becky Staiger. "OBGYN Workforce Post-Dobbs: Composition, Training, and Policy Impacts."

Rafaela Vieira, Alex Schulte, Hector Rodriguez. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Severe Maternal Mortality: A Multistate Hospital-based Analysis."

Funding

Alex's research has been supported by a variety of sources, including:

Research interests

Health policy
Organizations and management
Causal inference
Big data management
Reproductive, maternal, and child health

Background and experience

Before starting her PhD, Alex spent over four years at Deloitte Consulting, where she worked with a variety of healthcare and philanthropic clients on strategy and operations. Her work spanned a wide range of initiatives, including developing and implementing a population health operating model for a vertically integrated health system, leading COVID-19 scenario planning for the largest U.S. foundation, and developing behavioral economics–informed nudges for physicians. Alex also played a key role in launching the Deloitte Health Equity Institute and later served as a program officer, where she managed grant making and provided technical assistance to nonprofit organizations working to improve maternal health equity.

Alex graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Bachelors degrees in Economics and Health Policy & Management. During her time at UNC, she worked as a research assistant at the NC Rural Health Research Program under the mentorship of Drs. George Pink and Mark Holmes. Alex was born and raised in rural Kentucky.

Outside of work, Alex volunteers as a Spiritual Care Counselor with the All-Options Faith Aloud program, where she offers compassionate nonjudgmental support to individuals facing complex decisions around pregnancy, parenting, abortion, and adoption.

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