Emily Ihara, Ph.D., M.S.W.
Assistant Professor
Unit: Dept. of Social Work
Mail Stop: 1F8
Office Location: Robinson Hall B 378E
Phone: 703-993-2023
Email: eihara@gmu.edu
Emily S. Ihara is currently an Assistant Professor of Social Work at George Mason University where she teaches courses on social policy and social justice. Her research interests focuses on the social determinants of health, particularly for racial and ethnic minority groups and vulnerable populations. She is particularly interested in the effects of immigrant status, English language ability, and other social markers on the health status and health care access for Asian American groups with large immigrant populations.
Prior to her work at George Mason University, Dr. Ihara was the H. Jack Geiger Congressional Fellow in the office of Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA-15) and for the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). She provided legislative assistance for issues related to racial and ethnic health disparities, health care, women, seniors, Medicare, Social Security for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, welfare, and housing.
Dr. Ihara spent four years as a Research Associate at the Center on an Aging Society at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute where she focused on access to health and long-term care services, particularly for underserved and low-income populations. Specific projects included national surveys of Medicaid home and community-based services, personal care services, and enrollment simplification; issue briefs on health literacy, cultural competence, and chronic conditions; and incremental reform of long-term care financing and organization. She also has experience with quantitative data analysis using state and national databases, such as the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), and the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS). She has authored articles on racial and ethnic minorities, work and chronic conditions, cultural competence in health care, child and adolescent mental health services, health insurance for older populations with chronic conditions, prescription drugs, and other topics.
Dr. Ihara is the national recipient of a doctoral fellowship from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fellowship in Health Policy (1999-2004) and the Okura Mental Health Leadership Foundation Fellowship (2000). She has worked as a researcher and policy analyst for various agencies, including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at Brandeis University, and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services in Massachusetts. Dr. Ihara brings her extensive clinical experience as a social worker to children, adolescents, and adults with trauma, health, and mental health issues to her understanding of research and policy.
Dr. Ihara is a graduate of UC Berkeley (A.B.), UCLA (M.S.W.), and The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University (M.A., Ph.D.).