POSTDOCTORAL PROFILE
Frenchman Says Merci BY LYDIA LEVIS BLOCH
Thomas Rapp and his family, from left: Louise, age 5, Arthur, age 4, Camille, age 10 months, and Amélie.
Having earned a PhD in economics from the University of Paris Dauphine, Thomas Rapp knew precisely what he wanted to do next: specialize in health economics. So when he was selected for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in 2007 at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research (PHSR), he accepted eagerly and caught a flight to Baltimore. The subsequent training he received helped launch the rapid rise of his career. “Thomas came to the School of Pharmacy with excellent quantitative skills and focused his efforts on health economics research related to health issues in the elderly,” says his mentor C. Daniel Mullins, PhD, professor and chair of PHSR. “It’s not surprising to see how successful he has become in related work in France. His empirical studies provide important policy implications for government agencies throughout the world.” Rapp, who also worked under pharmacoepidemiologist and former department chair Ilene Zuckerman, PharmD ’83, PhD, BSP ’81, says, “My experience at the School of Pharmacy was very important for my career. I learned a lot from my mentors and the interactions I had with faculty.” He picked up new teaching methods and acquired training in grant writing that prepared him to secure his own future funding. He has maintained contact with the postdoctoral fellows he worked with who are now faculty members at institutions all over the world. Rapp’s current research focuses on the efficacy of health policies to deliver care and answer the basic needs of the frail elderly. At 34, Rapp, who was born in Toulouse, France, is 28
cap capssu ule le
www.pharmacy.umaryland.edu
an associate professor in economics at the University of Paris Descartes-Sorbonne Paris Cité. He co-directs an endowed program in health economics and aging at Fondation Paris Descartes and is also adjunct director of the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Applied Research in health economics at the University of Paris Descartes. As if that weren’t enough, Rapp spends a month per year at the Paris Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi teaching economics, and serves as director of the first master’s degree program in health economics in the United Arab Emirates. How does he do it all? “It’s a lot of work, but fascinating,” says Rapp. “I need to organize my time very carefully. Finding time for research, apart from administrative functions, is sometimes challenging.” Nevertheless, Rapp is the leader of the health economics work package of a $53 million grant from the Innovative Medicine Initiative program of the European Commission to study physical frailty in the elderly. A 2015-2016 recipient of a prestigious Commonwealth Fund’s Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy and Practice, Rapp will soon cross the Atlantic again for study at Harvard University. He will explore the United States health system’s delivery of long-term care services to the frail elderly. Since Boston isn’t far from Baltimore, Rapp is looking forward to a return visit to his colleagues at the School of Pharmacy. Says Rapp, “In addition, I hope my wife, Amélie, and I will have the chance to enjoy Baltimore-style crabcakes once more and introduce our three children — Louise, Arthur, and Camille — to the National Aquarium.” b