Dr. Thomas Wickizer

Dr. Thomas Wickizer is professor emeritus in the College of Public Health at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.  Formerly, he was the college’s Stephen F. Loebs Distinguished Professor of Health Services Management and Policy and chair of the Division of Health Services Management and Policy. He joined the faculty at Ohio State University College of Public Health in October 2009.

Wickizer received a PhD in 1989 from the University of Michigan. His primary areas of study were health economics and health policy. From 1989 through 2009, he served on the faculty at the University of Washington School of Public Health and taught courses in health economics, health services organization and policy, and health services research. 

Much of Wickizer's research at the University of Washington focused on occupational health services. In 1997, he was awarded the Rhom Haas Distinguished Professorship of Public Health Sciences for his research in the occupational health field. With a grant from the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), he established in 2000 a doctoral training program in occupational health services research. Over the past 20 years, this program has provided over $4 million to support the training of occupational health services researchers. 

Wickizer’s research has involved studies of workers’ compensation interventions sponsored by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. These studies have included evaluations of a managed care pilot, analysis of the effect of drug-free workplace programs, assessment of opioid dosing guidelines, and, more recently, evaluation of a large-scale quality improvement initiative. Wickizer is currently working on a three-year comparative effectiveness study examining opioid prescription use and outcomes among injured workers in Ohio and Washington.