Shira Hornstein

Shira Hornstein is a student in the MD-PhD program at Harvard Medical School and research fellow at the Division of Health Policy and Insurance Research (HPI) in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2021 with dual B.A.s in Government and Biology. In her undergraduate thesis, Shira examined the impact of political messaging during COVID-19 on public opinion through a survey experiment and interviews with politicians from three U.S. states. Before starting her MD-PhD in 2022, Shira spent a gap year at MGH’s Cancer Outcomes Research and Education Center, studying the effects of home care and palliative-care interventions on cancer outcomes for patients with advanced disease. Additionally, her volunteer work at a syringe exchange profoundly influenced her interest in substance use policy and harm reduction. Shira's research interests include public opinion and health messaging, particularly related to substance use policy, harm reduction, and reproductive access.