Tomas J. Philipson is a professor of health economics at the University of Chicago with posts in the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, department of economics, and the University of Chicago Law School. Philipson is also the co-founder of Precision Heath Economics LLC.
Philipson was born and raised in Sweden where he obtained an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Uppsala University. He received his MA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and moved to the economics department at the University of Pennsylvania for his PhD. In 1989 Philipson started work at the University of Chicago as a postdoctoral fellow, where he has served since with a break from 2003 to 2005 to work as Senior Economic Advisor to the head of the Food and Drug Administration, and subsequently as Senior Economic Advisor to the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. During the 2008 Presidential Election, he worked on the health care task force for John McCain, and has worked as an economic consultant for a number of firms, both private and public.
Philipson's recent work focuses on the effectiveness of public health policies that attempt to lower American obesity rates by educating individuals in the benefits of healthy living. Philipson's work focuses on how the lowering cost of food and the increasing opportunity cost of exercising are the primary causes of rising obesity rates, rather than the common concern that increased consumption causes.
Philipson has been the recipient of awards in his field including, the Kenneth Arrow Award of the International Health Economics Association (for best paper in the field of health economics), the Garfield Award by Research America in 2007 (for best paper in field of health economics), The Prêmio Haralambos Simeonidisand from the Brazilian Economic Association in 2006 (for best paper in any field), and the Distinguished Economic Research Award from the Milken Institute in 2003 (for best paper in any field of economics). In addition Philipson has been the recipient of a number of grants from agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the John M. Olin Foundation, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.