Rebecca Walcott

Economist
American Institutes for Research
Curriculum Vitae
Personal Website

Biography

Rebecca Walcott started the Evans School Ph.D. program in Public Policy and Management in 2018. Rebecca’s research interests are in the fields of international development, health policy, and economic evaluation. Prior to beginning the program, she was employed as a Research Associate in the Economic Evaluation Research Group at the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health. She holds an MPH from the University of Georgia, along with certificates in Disaster Management and Global Health. She earned her bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the University of Georgia and also has professional experience as a data manager, operations manager, and grant writer in the nonprofit sector.

Rebecca is a multidisciplinary scholar whose main interests lie in applied research. Her dissertation is focused on digital innovations for financial inclusion, including the regulation of mobile money and policy decisions of microfinance institutions. While at UW, she has worked as a research assistant with the Evans Policy and Research Group, the COVID-19 State Policy Research Team, and the International Program in Public Health Leadership.

Education

Ph.D. Public Policy and Management, University of Washington, 2022
M.S. Public Policy and Management, University of Washington, 2020
Master of Public Health, University of Georgia, 2014
Master of International Policy, University of Georgia, 2014
B.A. International Affairs, University of Georgia, 2009

Specializations

International development
Financial inclusion
Global health
US health policy
Applied quantitative methods

Recent Publications

Corso PS, Ingels JB, Walcott RL. (2022). Costs of Evidence-Based Early Childhood Home Visiting: Results from the Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation. OPRE Report 2022-01. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Walcott RL, Schmidt CJ, Kaminsky M, Singh R, Anderson CL, Desai S, de Hoop T. Women’s Groups, Covariate Shocks, and Resilience: An Evidence Synthesis of Past Shocks to Inform a Response to COVID-19. (2021). Evidence Consortium on Women’s Groups, ECWG Working Paper 04.

Walcott RL, Ingels JB, Corso PS, Zalwango S, Whalen CC, Sekandi JN. (2020). There’s no such thing as a free TB diagnosis: Catastrophic TB costs in urban Uganda. Global Public Health, 15(6): 877-888.