Amanda "Mandi" Spishak-Thomas is an assistant research professor at the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy where she researches Medicaid and its impacts on low-income families in New Jersey. Mandi's research understands health policies as wealth policies, examining how health insurance provides scaffolding for low-income families. Mandi received her PhD from the Columbia School of Social Work and has her license in clinical social work (LCSW) from California.