Leemore S. Dafny, PhD

Leemore Dafny is the Bruce V. Rauner Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. She is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and serves on the board of the American Society of Health Economists.

In 2012–2013, Dr. Dafny served as Deputy Director for Health Care and Antitrust at the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics, a position created to enhance the agency’s efforts to promote competition in the healthcare sector. In her FTC role, Dr. Dafny oversaw a staff of more than 50 economists, investigating cases and advising on competitive issues ranging from provider consolidation to reverse payment settlements in the pharmaceutical industry. She also served on the Panel of Health Advisers for the Congressional Budget Office for over a decade, concluding in 2023.

Dr. Dafny’s academic research focuses on competitive interactions among payers and providers of healthcare services, with an emphasis on antitrust, competitive strategy, and public policy. She has also completed studies and authored articles on competition and policy issues in pharmaceutical markets. Her work has been published in leading journals including the American Economic Review and the New England Journal of Medicine and featured in outlets such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Dr. Dafny is an Associate Editor of Management Science and recently completed over a decade of service on the Board of Editors for American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. Additionally, she was on the board of the Health Care Cost Institute from 2013 to 2020.

Dr. Dafny has been retained as a testifying expert in several healthcare and pharmaceutical industry matters, including provider and insurer mergers, cases involving alleged anticompetitive conduct in the pharmaceutical industry, and allegations regarding violations of the federal anti-kickback statute. She has submitted public comments and amicus briefs in several cases, testified in hearings and panels organized by or on behalf of federal and state agencies, and testified before both houses of Congress.

Dr. Dafny has been named among Who’s Who Legal’s Competition Economists since 2018.

PhD, Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

AB, Economics, Harvard University, summa cum laude

• Submitted expert and rebuttal reports, provided deposition testimony, and testified in federal court on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission in its challenge to the proposed acquisition of Englewood Health by Hackensack Meridian Health.
• Submitted expert and rebuttal reports and provided deposition testimony on behalf of the US Department of Justice in two matters alleging violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act by pharmaceutical companies in connection with contributions to third-party patient assistance funds.
• Developed a model for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to simulate the outcomes of alternative plan menus for enrollees. Presented results to the Board of Administration.
• Submitted expert report and provided deposition testimony on monopoly power, monopsony power, and exclusionary conduct on behalf of Steward Health Care in Steward Health Care System LLC et al. v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.
• Retained by the Federal Trade Commission to analyze the competitive effects of a Texas Medical Board rule requiring that physicians meet face to face with patients before offering certain services such as prescribing medication via telemedicine.