Placement: Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy
Co-Mentors: Jonathan Zhang, PhD, Assistant Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University; Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research
Frank Wharam, MD, Professor of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine; Core Faculty Member, Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, Duke University
Project: Addressing Drug Overdose Mortality: A Comparative Study of Educational Disparities and Treatment Outcomes in the U.S. and Norway
Henning Øien, PhD, is a 2025–26 Norwegian Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice. He is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and an associate professor in the Department of Health Management and Health Economics at the University of Oslo. He completed his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Oslo and, in conjunction with his doctoral and postdoctoral studies, was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University. Øien’s research focuses on health policy, with a particular emphasis on access to health care for older adults, socioeconomic gradients in health services, and the economics of addiction. He has led comparative research projects in Scandinavia, investigating efficiency, quality, and inequality in health care services. In addition to his research, he teaches microeconometrics, focusing on quantitative methods for evaluating causal effects in health policy.
Project Overview: The United States faces the highest rate of drug overdose deaths among high-income countries, with mortality rates particularly concentrated among individuals without a college education. In contrast, Norway experiences much lower overdose mortality and offers a strong social safety net and universal health care. This project will explore how drug-related mortality and treatment outcomes vary by educational attainment in both countries, shedding light on the role of social policy in addressing substance use and related health disparities. Using comprehensive Norwegian registry data and comparative U.S. sources, the project will assess how differences in education level shape overdose risk, treatment access, and outcomes. It will also examine whether physician prescribing behaviors contribute to overdose trends and how policy interventions — such as supply-side restrictions — affect drug use and recovery. Findings will offer insights for more equitable substance use treatment policies and prevention strategies in both countries.