Dr. Omar Robles Receives Harvard Appointment

Recognized as thought leader on prescription pharmaceutical competition

July 2021 | Dr. Omar Robles, economist and Managing Partner at Emerging Health LLC, has been appointed Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (M-RCBG) as a thought leader on competition in prescription pharmaceuticals and the critical role played by regulatory policy.

Senior Fellows at M-RCBG are distinguished professionals from government and/or business who address issues at the interface of the public and private sectors: regulation, corporate governance, and the role of government in the changing global economy. Senior Fellows strengthen the connection between theory and practice, offering both faculty and students insights into the nature of social problems and their most practical solutions.

The mission of the M-RCBG is to advance the state of knowledge and policy analysis concerning some of society’s most challenging problems at the interface of the public and private sectors. Drawing on the unparalleled intellectual resources of the Kennedy School and Harvard University, and bringing together thought leaders from both business and government, M-RCBG conducts research, facilitates dialogue, and seeks answers that are at once intellectually rigorous and policy relevant.

Dr. Robles has spent many years consulting on commercial litigation concerning prescription pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and dietary supplements. His engagements have concerned antitrust claims and intellectual property matters litigated in US federal and state courts, the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and Canadian courts. Dr. Robles’ research focuses on regulatory health policy, drug development, and competition in life sciences. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics and the Journal of Health Economics. In addition, Dr. Robles routinely publishes articles in legal news sources as a life sciences expert and has contributed to multiple publications from the American Bar Association.

Dr. Robles also holds a concurrent position as Lecturer at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health where he provides graduate instruction on regulatory science and drug development. He has previously taught economics and public policy at Harvard University, Georgetown University, and the University of Maryland-College Park. In 2010, Dr. Robles received the prestigious Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize for excellence in teaching from the Harvard Undergraduate Council.

Dr. Robles received his B.B.A. in finance and economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his M.B.A. from DePaul University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.