Health economist Prof. Ariel Stern joins HPI

06/06/2023

Health economist Prof. Dr. Ariel Dora Stern has been awarded a Humboldt Professorship to teach and conduct research at the joint Digital Engineering Faculty of the Hasso Plattner Institute and the University of Potsdam. The professorship is endowed with 3.5 million euros—making it the highest-endowed international award for research in Germany. It is awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Prof. Dr. Ariel Dora Stern has been faculty at Harvard Business School since 2014—for the past four years as an Associate Professor. At the Hasso Plattner Institute, she will expand her research on health care innovation, digitalization, regulatory science, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the health care sector. In this interdisciplinary work, Ariel Dora Stern has developed international expertise. Her research at the intersection of public policy, digital innovation in health care, and health economics is of growing relevance. Advances in medical technology are raising completely new questions, for example: How should public policies change to encourage the development of new medicines? What role should regulation play in the digitalization of health care? And what are the implications of economics and regulation for health care startups?

Prof. Dr. Tobias Friedrich, Managing Director at HPI and Dean of the joint Digital Engineering Faculty of HPI and the University of Potsdam: "We are delighted to welcome Prof. Dr. Ariel Dora Stern and congratulate her warmly on her Humboldt Professorship. With her support, we at HPI will further strengthen our research on digitalization in health care—and with international appeal. Startups developing new services for the health care sector on the HPI campus will also benefit from Prof. Stern’s extensive expertise."

Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler, head of the Digital Global Public Health department and speaker of the Digital Health Cluster at HPI: "The possibilities in digital medicine are increasing rapidly with artificial intelligence. In order to competently assess opportunities and risks, more interdisciplinary research is absolutely needed in this area. Prof. Dr. Ariel Dora Stern, with her outstanding level of expertise in the field of health economics, is an excellent addition to our Digital Health Cluster and our international network."

Prof. Dr. Ariel Dora Stern says of the Humboldt Professorship: "I am honored to receive this award and look forward to working with the Hasso Plattner Institute in the future. The HPI is an excellent environment for my research. New developments in the fields of artificial intelligence and digital medicine will revolutionize health care. It is highly appealing to think about the opportunities to support health care’s digital transformation in the context of a Humboldt Professorship at HPI.”

About the Hasso Plattner Institute

The Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Potsdam is Germany's university center of excellence for digital engineering (https://hpi.de). With the bachelor's degree program "IT-Systems Engineering," the joint digital engineering faculty of HPI and the University of Potsdam offers a practical engineering-oriented computer science program that is unique throughout  Germany. The program  is currently attended by around 800 students. In five master's degree programs, "IT Systems Engineering", "Digital Health", "Data Engineering", "Cybersecurity", and "Software Systems Engineering", students can  set their own research priorities. 

In the CHE university rankings, HPI always occupies top positions. The HPI School of Design Thinking, Europe's first innovation school for students following the example of the Stanford d.school, offers 300 places per year for additional studies. HPI currently has 22 professors and over 50  visiting professors, lecturers, and instructors. HPI conducts excellent university research in its IT disciplines, but also in the HPI Research School for doctoral students with its research branches in Cape Town, Irvine, Haifa and Nanjing. 

HPI teaching and research focus on the fundamentals and applications of large, highly complex, and networked IT systems. In addition, HPI prioritizes the development and research of user-oriented innovations for all areas of life.