Principal Scientist
Merck Co.
Joe (Zhuo) Yang, Ph.D. M.Sc is a principal scientist at Merck &Co, responsible for value evidence studies around Merck products in the areas of hospital acute care, primary care, and women's health. He previously served as a Health Economist in the Office of Associate Director for Policy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for five years. In this position, Joe led numerous projects to evaluate/project health and economic impacts of public health interventions/programs, in collaboration with six CDC divisions. Notable work of his includes development of economic tools on the topics of opioid abuse prevention, hypertension control, contraception use, and smoking cessation. Prior to Joe’s CDC tenure, he worked for three years as a Health Economist at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, where he collaborated with physicians of various specialties (oncology, gastroenterology, neurology, emergency medicine, and so on) to conduct CEA/BIA studies and first-/second-authored over ten peer-reviewed publications.
Joe received his PhD degree in Health Services Research & Health Policy with concentration in Health Economics from Emory University. He also earned a Master’s degree (with distinction) in Health Economics from University of York, UK, and a second Master’s degree in Epidemiology & Toxicology from New York University.