Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Mariana Socal, MD, PhD '17, studies ways to make the US pharmaceutical market more competitive, delivering drugs of greater value for lower costs to the American people.
Research Interests
Prescription drugs; pharmaceutical policy; pharmaceutical supply chains; drug coverage; drug formularies; drug pricing; Medicare; self-insured employers; PBMs; biosimilars; insulin; orphan drugs; gene therapies; FDA.
Additional Links
Experiences & Accomplishments
Prof. Socal researches ways to improve prescription drug access and affordability. Specific topics include the global pharmaceutical supply chain, gene therapies, generics and biosimilar markets, and ways to control spending without restricting access to prescription drugs.
Prof. Socal is the principal investigator of the Johns Hopkins Prescription Drug Supply Chain Data Dashboard (supplychain.jhu.edu), an interactive, publicly available database that provides key information on manufacturing, shortages, and regulatory profile for more than 60,000 pharmaceutical products.
Prof. Socal has testified before the U.S. Congress, the Food and Drug Administration, and several state legislatures on drug pricing legislation and biopharmaceutical regulation. Prof. Socal collaborates with state-level initiatives to increase access to prescription drugs, including the California Generic Drugs Initiative (CalRx). Prof. Socal has been serving as a member of the World Health Organization's Technical Advisory Group on Pricing Policies for Medicines since 2023.
Prof. Socal teaches courses on U.S. Pharmaceutical Policy and is the Director of the PhD program in Health Services Research in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Prof. Socal is a physician trained in adult Neurology. She holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Princeton University and a PhD in Public Health/Health Systems from Johns Hopkins University.
Honors & Awards
Public Health Practice Awards
- 2023-current: Technical Advisory Group on Pricing Policies for Medicines (member), World Health Organization
- 2025 Sommer Klag Advocacy Impact Award, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2022 Excellence in U.S. Public Health Practice Faculty Award, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Research Awards
- 2024 Johns Hopkins NEXUS Research Award
- 2016 David and Elinor Bodian Scholarship Award, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2016 Henry K. and Lola Beye Scholarship in International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2009 Research Fellowship, Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil
- 2008 Research Fellowship, Princeton University Grand Challenges Initiative and the Ford Foundation
Teaching Awards
- 2022 Golden Apple Award, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2025 Excellence in Teaching (U.S. Pharmaceutical Policy) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2024 Excellence in Teaching (U.S. Pharmaceutical Policy) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2023 Excellence in Teaching (U.S. Pharmaceutical Policy) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2022 Excellence in Teaching (U.S. Pharmaceutical Policy) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2021 Excellence in Teaching (U.S. Pharmaceutical Policy) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2020 Excellence in Teaching (U.S. Pharmaceutical Policy) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2019 Excellence in Teaching (U.S. Pharmaceutical Policy) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- 2015 Teaching-As-Research Fellowship, Johns Hopkins Center for Educational Resources
- 2015 Gordis Teaching Fellowship, Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
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2013 Gordis Teaching Fellowship, Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
Select Publications
Selected Publications