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Samantha Marinello, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Health Policy and Administration

About

Dr. Samantha (Sam) Marinello has experience in policy evaluation, biostatistics, and econometrics. Her education includes a PhD in Health Policy and MS in Biostatistics from the University of Illinois Chicago and a BA in Mathematical Economics from Colorado College. She is interested in studying the effectiveness, differential impacts, and unintended consequences of public health policies that aim to improve health behaviors.

Currently, Sam is working on a U.S. Food Policy Evaluation project assessing local, state, and federal policies that aim to improve population nutrition by altering food environments and changing dietary behavior. She also teaches Healthcare Data Analytics, a course for students in the Master of Healthcare Administration program. As a PhD student, she has worked on a large-scale project evaluating sugar-sweetened beverage taxes in the U.S. Her dissertation research examined the health impacts of commercial recreational cannabis markets as well as social media activity of recreational dispensaries.

Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Sam worked as a healthcare management consultant and a research assistant for multiple NIH-funded studies. Additionally, she was a Teaching Assistant at the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods for a course on longitudinal data analysis.

Selected Publications

Falbe, J., Marinello, S., Wolf, E.C., Solar, S., & Powell, L.M. (2024). Food environment after implementation of a healthy checkout policy (in press). JAMA Network Open.

Marinello S. (2024). The impact of recreational cannabis markets on cannabis use among adolescents and adults: A synthetic control analysis. Cannabis.

Marinello, S., Valek, R., & Powell, L.M. (2024). Analysis of social media compliance with marijuana advertising regulations: evidence from recreational dispensaries in Illinois one-year post-legalization. Journal of Cannabis Research, 6(1), 2.

Marinello, S., Powell, L., & Falbe, J. (2023). Neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics and healthfulness of store checkouts in Northern California. Preventive Medicine Reports, 35, 102379.

Lange-Maia, B. S., Kim, A. Y., Willingham, J. L., Marinello, S., Crane, M. M., Dugan, S.A., & Lynch, E. B. (2023). “You just have to keep it movin’: Perceptions of Physical Function Limitations in an African American Health Ministry. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 1-10.

Falbe, J., Marinello, S., Wolf, E. C., Solar, S. E., Schermbeck, R. M., Pipito, A. A., & Powell, L. M. (2023). Food and beverage environments at store checkouts in California: Mostly unhealthy products. Current Developments in Nutrition, 7(6), 100075.

Marinello, S. (2023). Social media marketing practices of Illinois recreational cannabis dispensaries in the first year of legal sales: Product promotions, branding, and advertising. Journal of Drug Issues: 00220426231159542.

Marinello, S., Powell, L. M. (2023). The impact of recreational cannabis markets on motor vehicle accident, suicide, and opioid overdose fatalities. Social Science & Medicine, 320: 114580.

Andreyeva, T., Marple, K., Marinello, S., Moore, T., & Powell, L.M. (2022), Outcomes following taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open, 5(6), e2215276-e2215276.

Marinello, S., Leider, J., & Powell, L. M. (2021). Employment impacts of the San Francisco sugar-sweetened beverage tax 2 years after implementation. PloS one, 16(6), e0252094.

Marinello, S., Pipito, A. A., Leider, J., Pugach, O., & Powell, L. M. (2020). Longer-term impacts of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes on fast-food prices: evidence from Oakland, California, 2-year post-tax. Public Health Nutrition: 1-5.

Marinello, S., Leider, J., Pugach, O., & Powell, L.M. (2020). The impact of the Philadelphia beverage tax on employment: a synthetic control analysis. Economics & Human Biology: 100939.

Marinello, S., Pipito, A. A., Leider, J., Pugach, O., & Powell, L. M. (2019). The Impact of the Oakland sugar-sweetened beverage tax on bottled soda and fountain drink prices in fast-food restaurants. Preventive Medicine Reports, 17: 101034. Poster presented at the Society for Behavioral Medicine 2019 Annual Meeting.

 

Education

University of Illinois Chicago, Division of Health Policy and Administration, Chicago, Illinois 2022
PhD in Health Policy and Administration

University of Illinois Chicago, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Chicago, Illinois 2017
MS in Biostatistics

Colorado College, Department of Economics, Colorado Springs, Colorado 2011
BA Mathematical Economics

Professional Memberships

Association for Public Policy and Management

American Public Health Association

American Society of Health Economists

Selected Presentations

The impact of recreational marijuana markets on fatalities associated with marijuana use. Oral presentation at the Association for Public Policy and Management conference. 2022.

Analysis of social media compliance with marijuana advertising regulations: evidence from recreational dispensaries in Illinois one-year post-legalization. Oral presentation at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting. 2021.

The impact of recreational marijuana markets on fatalities associated with marijuana use. Poster presented at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting. 2021.

The Impact of the Oakland Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax on Bottled Soda and Fountain Drink Prices in Fast-Food Restaurants. Poster presentation at the Society for Behavioral Medicine. 2019.