Donatus U. Ekwueme, PhD, MS

Dr. Donatus U. Ekwueme is the Senior Health Economist in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC), National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Ekwueme has worked as a health economist for more than a decade conducting economic research on international and domestic public health issues in several national centers within CDC. Currently, he serves as the senior health economist in DCPC where he provides leadership and direction for applied economics research projects and policy analysis, on the burden of cancer disease in the United States and other countries.

His research focuses on using various modeling approaches to understand the interplay between economics, epidemiology, human behavior, and the prevention and control of cancer disease. A major area of his research also includes the development of methods to collect economic cost data to accurately evaluate and estimate the economics of national cancer prevention and control programs. He provides easy-to-understand economic cost information to help public health leaders make more informed decisions on the most effective methods of allocating resources to prevent and control as many cancers as possible.

Dr. Ekwueme is a founding member of an interagency consortium to promote health economics research on cancer (HEROiC) in the United States. HEROiC focuses on developing research resources and improving analytic methods to improve the estimation of the economic burden of cancer in the United States, including spending on cancer care, financial burden, employment, and access to care among cancer survivors. An example of HEROiC’s work is the supplement to the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), Experiences with Cancer, which addresses financial hardship, employment changes, and access to care associated with cancer, its treatment, or lasting effects of treatment.

Dr. Ekwueme has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles on economic evaluation methods, economic analyses, health outcomes, and health services research. Most of his work has received media coverage including print, radio, and TV interviews, and appeared in 10 top public health, clinical, and policy journals. Dr. Ekwueme also serves as an adjunct professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Some of the most recent articles Dr. Ekwueme has authored or co-authored include—

• 2017 Estimation of breast cancer incident cases and medical care costs attributable to alcohol consumption among insured women aged < 45 years in the US.
• 2016 The economics of breast cancer in younger women in the U.S.: the present and future.
• 2016 Treatment costs of breast cancer among younger women aged 19–44 years enrolled in Medicaid.
• 2016 Productivity costs associated with breast cancer among survivors aged 18–44 years.
• 2015 Health and economic burden of breast cancer mortality in younger women aged 18–44 years in the United States, 1970–2012.
• 2015 Early prevention and screening of cervical cancer in a developing country: reply.
• 2014 Cost of services provided by the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
• 2014 Impact of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program on cervical cancer mortality among uninsured low-income women in the U.S., 1991—2007.
• 2014 Medical costs and productivity losses of cancer survivors—United States, 2008–2011.
• 2014 Analysis of the benefits and costs of a national campaign to promote colorectal cancer screening: CDC’s Screen for Life National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign.
• 2013 Health and economic impact of breast cancer mortality in young women, 1970–2008.
• 2013 An exploratory analysis of the benefits and costs of a national campaign to promote colorectal cancer screening: CDC’s Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign.
• 2011 The health burden and economic costs of cutaneous melanoma mortality by race/ethnicity—United States, 2000 to 2006.
• 2008 Cost analysis of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program: selected states, 2003 to 2004.
• 2008 Estimating personal costs incurred by a woman participating in mammography screening in the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
• 2008 Years of potential life lost and productivity costs because of cancer mortality and for specific cancer sites where human papillomavirus may be a risk factor for carcinogenesis—United States, 2003.
• 2007 Cost analysis of screening for, diagnosing, and staging prostate cancer based on a systematic review of published studies.
• 2002 Model-based estimates of risks of disease transmission and economic costs of seven injection devices in sub-Saharan Africa.

His publications list is available in PubMed or Google Scholar.