Current Contributors

Kristen Hassmiller Lich, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She specializes in the application of systems thinking, operations research and simulation modeling methods in health. Her work seeks to advance the use of data to improve policy decision making.

Karen Hicklin, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at the University of Florida. She received her PhD in Industrial Engineering from the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University and completed postdoctoral training in the Cancer Health Disparities Training Program within the Department of Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests are mathematical modeling of stochastic systems with an emphasis on statistical and decision analysis as applied to health care and service environments.

Erin Kenzie, PhD, is a senior research associate with the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network at Oregon Health & Science University and an instructor in the Systems Science Program at Portland State University. She received her PhD in systems science in 2021 from PSU and has over 10 years of experience in modeling and simulation. Her research addresses how to use modeling approaches for evidence synthesis to inform decision-making.

Priscille Koutouan, BS, is a doctoral student in the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University. She earned her B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Houston. Her research interests are in applying deterministic and stochastic models along with simulation to solve healthcare and public health related problems.

Maria E. Mayorga, PhD, is a Professor of Personalized Medicine in the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University. Her research interests include predictive models in health care, health care operations management, emergency response, and humanitarian logistics. She is a member of INFORMS and the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers, and serves on the editorial board for the journals IISE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering, and INFORMS Journal on Computing.

Sarah D. Mills, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC). She is also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Mills uses a social-ecological framework to examine the roles that the neighborhood in which one lives and public policy play in racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequities in cancer-related health behaviors.

Meghan C. O’Leary, MA, is a PhD student in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a predoctoral trainee in the UNC Cancer Care Quality Training Program. Her research interests include using and optimizing systems science approaches to inform implementation of evidence-based interventions aimed at improving cancer screening and outcomes.

Lisa C. Richardson, MD, MPH

Daniel Stein, PA-C, is a physician assistant with a special clinical interest in providing health care for underserved populations. He has led quality improvement initiatives around colorectal cancer screening, hypertension and diabetes control that have become a blueprint for other clinics. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University.

Florence Tangka, PhD

Stephanie B. Wheeler, PhD, MPH, is a Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a health services researcher and decision scientist focused on quantifying the social, behavioral, clinical, and organizational factors that affect healthcare access, quality, value and equity. Her research portfolio is primarily focused on cancer care delivery, with particular emphasis on improving value, understanding the financial and psychosocial impacts of cancer, and reducing health disparities.

Sarah Whited Drier, MPH, is a Project Manager at Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.