Affiliate Spotlight: Sarah Baird on global health and the value of multidisciplinary approaches

Sarah Baird is Professor of Global Health and Economics and Vice Chair in the Department of Global Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. Her research focuses on the microeconomics of health and education in low- and middle-income countries, with an emphasis on gender and youth. 

J-PAL affiliated professor Sarah Baird's interest in development economics was piqued early on. "I think it probably stemmed from growing up all over the world. My father worked for the World Bank," she recalls. This exposure to diverse socioeconomic conditions inspired her to seek creative solutions for improving lives across different types of environments.

Sarah's academic journey began with an undergraduate degree at Claremont McKenna College in environmental science, economics and policy. As a second year PhD student in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics at UC Berkeley, she approached Ted Miguel, now one of Sarah’s fellow J-PAL affiliated professors, and spent a semester in Kenya working on a randomized evaluation of a deworming program. "I don’t think I realized at the time that my interest was really in young people," she notes. During her time in Kenya, Sarah observed firsthand the complexities of implementing health interventions in resource-limited settings and the critical role local context plays in shaping outcomes. 

Involvement in the deworming project sparked Sarah’s interest in understanding the transitional phase from childhood to adulthood. She became particularly focused on the challenges young people face during this period, including those related to poverty, education, health, and gender. Since then, Sarah has delved deeper into health and education research, particularly among adolescents. Unlike most economists, Sarah is now based in a school of public health, which has given her “a much deeper understanding of health than my economics training." Taking a multidisciplinary approach has allowed her to bring a broader perspective to her research.

One of Sarah’s most significant projects is a multidisciplinary evaluation of the impacts of cash transfers on educational attainment, sexual behavior, and HIV status of adolescent girls in Malawi, which she co-led from design to execution with Ephraim Chirwa, Craig McIntosh, and Berk Özler. Sarah reflects on this endeavor with pride: "It was my first post-grad project. I was involved in funding, designing, and running the whole thing from start to finish." This research not only advanced the understanding of cash transfer design and benefits across multiple sectors—education, health, and social protection—but also contributed to broader policy discussions and underscored the importance of integrated, long-term interventions.

Another cornerstone of Sarah’s research is her participation in the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) study. This extensive research follows 20,000 adolescents across Bangladesh, Jordan, and Ethiopia over a decade and combines quantitative data with qualitative insights, capturing the dynamic nature of adolescence. "By following the same group over time, we can see how early interventions impact long-term outcomes," she notes. GAGE integrates randomized controlled trials within rich adolescent cohorts to test interventions, providing evidence to inform policies and programs aimed at improving adolescent lives. 

Across these diverse projects, Sarah's research ethos emphasizes humility, adaptability, and partnership. She advises aspiring researchers to be open to various tasks and willing to engage deeply with local partners. "It’s important to be willing to be thrown into things and try lots of different things; never think anything is beneath you," she says. Sarah believes in the value of long-term, meaningful partnerships that move beyond tokenism to achieve sustainable impact.

Looking ahead, Sarah is particularly excited about co-chairing the second Lancet Commission on adolescent health and well-being. This effort, which brings together researchers and practitioners from across the globe that span disciplines and generations, and situates meaningful adolescent and youth engagement at its center, aiming to engage adolescents as empowered actors and leaders in finding solutions to challenges facing their generation. Sarah is eager to use evidence-based approaches to ensure that, in the future, adolescents will have a world in which they can live and thrive.