WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS - Key Persons
Ann is a mixed methods data analyst at the Evaluation Center and brings experience in program planning, evaluation, and research methods. She worked as a dental hygienist prior to pursuing her master's degree so she brings direct service experience which is helpful as she engages with parents, schools, and the research team for the RADx Project.
In her free time, Ann manages her son's youth football team and enjoys watching her daughter compete in gymnastics.
Job Titles:
- Staff Scientist at the Center for Dissemination
- Staff Scientist, Center for Dissemination and Implementation
Anne Trolard is a staff scientist at the Center for Dissemination and Implementation at the Institute for Public Health. She has an undergraduate degree in English Literature, and has worked previously as a wedding photographer, line cook, & afterschool program director. Anne was a co-lead on the United Way of Greater St. Louis 2019 Comprehensive Needs Assessment project.
At the data center, she works with teams of students, community partners, staff, and faculty on data-driven projects that address public health issues identified by the community; and also on methods to more precisely identify needs from the community itself.
Job Titles:
- Coordinator at the Evaluation Center
- Evaluation Coordinator
Ashley is an evaluation coordinator at the Evaluation Center and currently supports the Safe Return to Schools (SR2S) project, assisting with qualitative data collection and analysis.
Before joining the Evaluation Center, Ashley worked as an educator at St. Louis Public Schools. As such, she brings substantive experience when engaging with schools, students, and parents for the SR2S project. What Ashley loves most about being an evaluator is merging her roles as both a practitioner and academic. As a pracademic, she is passionate about theory and praxis.
Ashley is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Public Communication & Technology at Colorado State University. She has more than 7 years of experience assisting and overseeing research projects focusing on societal concerns, including the role of information in understanding contemporary issues and events. Her research interests include critical examinations into systems of power and specifically the ways biological and cultural narratives about race affect public conceptions and communication of race and, ultimately, determine society's ability to redress racial inequalities.
Ashley is a native of St. Louis and loves salsa dancing, listening to live music, and spending time with her son.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Social Development
Job Titles:
- Senior Data Analyst at the Center for Public Health Systems Science
- Senior Data Analyst, Center for Public Health Systems Science
Bobbi Carothers is a senior data analyst at the Center for Public Health Systems Science (CPHSS). At CPHSS, Bobbi's current responsibility is to serve as the data analyst for several evaluations, including Washington University's Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS) and the Re-Entry Community Linkage (RE-LINK) St. Louis project. Her main tasks include development of online survey tools, analysis, as well as report and paper development.
Bobbi's previous work includes evaluations for Project LAUNCH; the National Association of County and City Health Officials; the Rippel Foundation; Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer; Communities Putting Prevention to Work; CDC National Networks for Tobacco Control and Prevention; St. Louis Children's Hospital; Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention, and Education; and Missouri Foundation for Health.
She has served as adjunct faculty for the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis teaching Applied Linear Modeling. Her research interests include applying social network analysis to public health evaluation contexts.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Dean for Community Partnerships
Cynthia Williams collaborates with the Evaluation Center on the Brown School's administrative partnerships. She is the assistant dean for Community Partnerships at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
She is a skilled and highly motivated professional with 37 years of experience in academia; expertise in application of adult learning principles in graduate-level education and training; highly competent in staff management, program development, curriculum development, training, conference planning and coordination, project management and evaluation, and written and verbal communication skills.
As assistant dean for Community Partnerships and co-chair of the Steering Committee for Community-Based Partnerships, Cynthia co-leads efforts to advance the Brown School's mission to partner with organizations and communities in the School's priority areas, to improve the quality of service to community members and enhance opportunities through use of best evidence. She works to advance a community-based partnership model in St. Louis and the surrounding community to transform and increase community participation at the Brown School through research, teaching, and volunteerism.
Job Titles:
- Irving Louis Horowitz Professor in Social Policy, Center for Public Health Systems Science Director
- Member of the Institute for Public Health
He is a leading researcher in the areas of public health policy, systems science, and tobacco control. Luke directs work focused primarily on the evaluation, dissemination and implementation of evidence-based public health policies.
Over the past decade, Luke has used systems science methods, especially social network analysis and agent-based modeling, to address important public health problems. He published the first review papers on network analysis in public health in 2007, and on systems science methods in public health in 2012. He has written books on multilevel modeling and network analysis. Under Luke's leadership, the Center for Public Health Systems Science has used network analysis to study diffusion of scientific innovations, to model the formation of organizational collaborations, and to study the relationship of mentoring to future scientific collaboration.
In addition to his appointment at the Brown School, Luke is a member of the Institute for Public Health, the director of evaluation for the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences and a founding member of the Washington University Network of Dissemination and Implementation Researchers (WUNDIR). In addition, he served on an Institute of Medicine panel that produced a national report on the use of agent-based modeling for tobacco regulatory science.
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for External Affairs, Clark - Fox Policy Institute Director
- Director of the Clark - Fox Policy Institute at the Brown School
Gary Parker is the associate dean of external affairs and director of the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
Prior to joining Washington University, Gary was deputy director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University Silver School of Social Work. He has held diverse government and public service positions, including community liaison to New York State Assembly Member Deborah Glick, district manager of Manhattan Community Board 5, and director of Government and Community Affairs at New York University.
An accomplished writer, Gary has published articles in academic journals as well as opinion pieces in mainstream publications, including The New York Times. He has taught courses in community organizing, social welfare policy, and global social work practice as an adjunct lecturer. Gary brings a passion for social justice and racial equity to all of his work and continually seeks to put theory, his academic training, and his commitment to stakeholder collaboration into practice to affect positive social change.
Job Titles:
- Analyst
- Analyst at the Evaluation Center
Grace is a mixed methods analyst at the Evaluation Center. She has experience working with qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate public policies and programs. She enjoys using data to tell stories about complex systems and promote equity in communities.
Grace received her MPH from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and her BS in Human Nutrition from the University of Kentucky. Before moving to St. Louis, she worked at United Way of Pickens County, where she helped to design and implement community financial stability programming. Her research interests have included food insecurity, social welfare policy, and socioeconomic determinants of health.
In her free time, Grace enjoys exploring the outdoors while hiking or camping. She's also an avid reader, an adventurous cook, and a coffee fanatic.
Job Titles:
- Interim Director
- Interim Director at the Evaluation Center
Hannah is interim director at the Evaluation Center. Hannah attended the Brown School (MSW) during which time she served as a Graduate Assistant in the Center for Social Development supporting their partnership with Intuit, Refunds to Savings and was on the leadership team of the Urban Education Initiative. She has extensive experience in managing projects, developing organizational strategy, and leading client relationships.
Prior to joining the Evaluation Center, Hannah was the founding COO at Human Agency, a tech development and marketing agency, where she worked to support organizations to strategically communicate their impact and advocacy campaigns to reach the audiences necessary to win at the ballot box. Before venturing into the world of marketing and politics, Hannah led the development of the East St. Louis Youth Development Alliance, a coordinated effort to ensure access to high-quality out-of-school time programs as part of East Side Aligned, where she worked with the Evaluation Center to create a system-wide evaluation. Hannah also brings direct program development and evaluation experience to our team, having led high school age programs at LifeWiseSTL before returning to graduate school.
Hannah cares deeply for the St. Louis community and enjoys spending her time supporting efforts to address racial equity in the systems of our region in a variety of ways, including knocking doors for her favorite political candidates. She has two cats, though she swears she's not a cat person, enjoys time with her parents, partner, and siblings, curling up with a good book or true crime podcast, and singing in a community women's choir.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Center for Interprofessional Practice
- Director, Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education
Heather Hageman is the director of the Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at Washington University Medical Campus. Her background is in strategic planning, program and outcomes assessment, accreditation, and project management. Hageman has more than 20 years' experience in medical education, most recently as director for educational planning and program assessment in the Office of Education at Washington University's School of Medicine. She was also the operations director of the Standardized Patient Center, a resource to health professions programs on the medical campus that provides simulated clinical experiences for learners using individuals trained to portray patient cases in a consistent manner.
Hageman is an accomplished presenter both nationally and internationally, board member of the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative, a reviewer for the Journal of Interprofessional Education and Practice, and a member of several organizations including the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education and the AAMC Group on Educational Affairs. This national involvement is part of her commitment to sharing best practices across diverse institutions so that everyone can benefit and learn from shared opportunities. Hageman is a certified facilitrainer with NCCJ St. Louis, a 2010 alumna of the Greater Missouri Leadership Challenge, and the recipient of the AAMC's Central Group on Educational Affairs Laureate Award in 2013.
Heather is an evaluation manager, and is the communications manager at the Center. She is an experienced evaluator with a background in program evaluation, project management, and health communication. She coordinates the center's projects, with a focus on evaluation planning and implementation, data collection and analysis, survey design, and user-friendly evaluation reports and tools. She also manages the center's communications, including the website and other marketing tools.
Her interests include plain language, data visualization, and working with non-profit organizations to communicate their message.
Before joining the Evaluation Center, Heather worked at the Health Communication Research Laboratory where she was the lead writer and managed a team of creatives to produce health materials. She also owned ClearApple Health Writing, where she consulted on health communication projects and created plain language health materials.
When she's not at work, you'll find her watching soccer games or staying up way too late to read one more chapter in a book.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University Physicians
- Professor of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases
Jason Newland is a professor of pediatrics at Washington University Physicians in St. Louis. His current research spotlights the use of antimicrobials and the impact of an antimicrobial stewardship program at a children's hospital. Additionally, he has been leading research efforts with the Brown School Evaluation Center on the use of SARS-CoV-2 testing in schools.
He is co-founder of the Sharing Antimicrobial Reports for Pediatric Stewardship (SHARPS) Collaborative, comprised of more than 60 children's hospitals that focus on establishing best practices for the use of antimicrobials among hospitalized children. He has been an international leader in the development and evaluation of pediatric antimicrobial stewardship.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, he has been a local and national leader creating networks in both arenas to help discuss the many issues. His leadership has helped lead to the development of a national guidance for the treatment of children with severe COVID-19. Additionally, his community work along with many colleagues has helped aid the response to the many challenges to COVID-19 and the return to school for children.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor Vice President, Community Health Improvement, BJC
Jason Purnell has collaborated with Evaluation Center staff on a number of projects, most recently the For the Sake of All Workgroup Evaluation. He is an associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
His research focuses on how socioeconomic and sociocultural factors influence health behaviors and health outcomes and on mobilizing community action to address the social determinants of health. He currently leads the Healthy Equity Works (formerly For the Sake of All ), which focuses on improving the health of all people by eliminating racial inequities in the St. Louis region through the implementation of strategies related to the six areas of recommendation in the For the Sake of All report.
Purnell joined BJC Healthcare as vice present of community health improvement in 2020. This newly created role oversees the development, implementation, and evaluation of BJC's community health program.
Purnell is trained in both applied psychology and public health. He is a faculty affiliate with the Prevention Research Center and the Center for Public Health Systems Science at the Brown School, a faculty scholar in the Institute for Public Health, and faculty director for Thriving Communities in the Center for Social Development.
Purnell is very active in the St. Louis community, including service on the boards of Beyond Housing, Inc. and the American Youth Foundation. He is also a licensed psychologist in the state of Missouri and a former director of community engagement with the United Way of Greater St. Louis.
Job Titles:
- Coordinator at the Evaluation Center
- Evaluation Coordinator
Kayla is an evaluation coordinator at the Evaluation Center. She has experience with evaluation planning, data collection and analysis, visualization, and dissemination. Kayla enjoys finding solutions to complex problems and building relationships with partners.
Kayla received her BA in psychology from the University of Louisville and her MA in education studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a focus on program evaluation and improvement research. Prior to joining the Evaluation Center, her research interests included disparities in higher education and linguistic relativity. Kayla plans to use her research background to help improve community-based programs in St. Louis.
Outside of work, she enjoys going to local coffee shops, hiking with her husband, and cooking.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Research
- Assistant Director of Research & Evaluation
Lexie Walsh is the assistant director of research and evaluation at ImpactED, an evaluation consulting firm based in the University of Pennsylvania's College of Liberal and Professional Studies. She also serves as co-instructor for the Brown School's Post-Master's Certificate in Program Evaluation.
Lexie has worked with organizations, coalitions, and collective impact initiatives to build and implement evaluations that support learning, growth, and communication. She has extensive experience in program and systems-level evaluation, evaluation capacity-building, project management, and effective dissemination and reporting. Lexie leads training and educational opportunities on evaluation planning, implementation, and qualitative data collection. Her evaluation practice is rooted in her experience with direct social work practice, curriculum development, and small- and large-group facilitation.
Prior to joining ImpactED, she was an evaluation and client services manager for the Brown School Evaluation Center.
Liz is a qualitative and mixed methods data analyst at the Evaluation Center. She collaborates with various Center projects on the development of qualitative data collection tools and strategies, facilitating qualitative interviews and focus groups, and analyzing data through qualitative and mixed methods methodologies. She brings an extensive background in thematic analysis, field data collection, and patient advocacy to her work.
Prior to joining the Evaluation Center, Liz worked as a research coordinator at WU School of Medicine, first in the Division of Public Health Sciences and later in the Bioethics Research Center. In these roles, she focused on qualitative research methodologies, training, and capacity building around qualitative data collection and analysis.
In her rare free time, Liz enjoys traveling, reading, attending live music shows and theatre performances, volunteering with local community organization boards, and spending time with her dogs.
Liz is an evaluation manager and is the client services manager at the Center. They currently manage the Washington University Strategic Plan and BJC Hospital to Housing projects. They are passionate about using data for the public good and about engaging the public and nonprofit sectors. They have experience with survey design, data analysis, facilitation, and strategic planning while working alongside partners in Michigan, California, and Missouri. With a curiosity for quality improvement and a deep commitment to equitable collaboration, Liz is emboldened to work alongside organizations to maximize their impact.
When not conducting evaluations, Liz spends time playing with their dog, trying out new recipes with their partner, and attempting New York Times crossword puzzles.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor at the Brown School
Lora Iannotti is an associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St Louis. She has expertise in maternal and young child nutrition and nutrient deficiencies (zinc, iron, vitamin A, B12, choline, and fatty acids) related to poverty and infectious diseases, and applies epidemiological methods to investigate interventions aimed at reducing stunted growth and development.
Dr. Iannotti leads projects in Haiti, Ecuador, and East Africa where she collaborates with local partners to test innovative, transdisciplinary approaches using animal source foods and small livestock and fisheries development. She is founder and director of the E3 Nutrition Lab, working to identify Economically affordable, Environmentally sustainable, and Evolutionarily appropriate nutrition solutions globally. She is currently working with Catholic Relief Services to help conduct an evaluation in Guatemala and is periodically an evaluation partner with other NGOs and consulting groups.
Prior to pursuing her PhD, she worked for over ten years with UN agencies and non-governmental organizations on nutrition and food security programming and policy. She serves on public health advisory and journal editorial boards and consults with WHO, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), among other international organizations.
Job Titles:
- Interim Associate Director at the Evaluation Center
Meihsi is the interim associate director at the Evaluation Center. She manages projects with a focus on process and outcome evaluation, evaluation capacity, survey design, and quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. She offers an extensive background in project management and visual communications.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, Evaluation Center Founding Director
Nancy Mueller is the Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness at Washington University in St. Louis. She is the founding director of the Evaluation Center and is focused on advancing evaluation science and practice through service provision, training and education, and evaluation research. Nancy is also responsible for the design and evaluation of the School's strategic initiatives and overall performance management.
Nancy has over 20 years of experience in program and systems-level evaluation, strategic planning, and organizational leadership and performance management. She is a Leap of Reason Ambassador which is a community of leaders who believe that mission and performance are inextricably linked and advances this "performance matters" message using the Performance Imperative - a Framework for Social Service Excellence. She is committed to supporting non-profits on their journey to strengthening their performance and, in turn, their impact on the communities they serve.
During her tenure as the associate director of Washington University's Institute for Public Health she was responsible for advancing the Institute's strategic priorities and building capacity for public health education, research, and practice at the University.
Nancy co-founded the Center for Tobacco Policy Research and served as the associate director while at Saint Louis University and continued in this capacity when the Center moved to Washington University in 2008. During her ten-year tenure at the Center, Nancy led several large evaluation projects examining the effectiveness of public health interventions and policies in tobacco control and obesity prevention at the local, state and national levels. She has worked with numerous non-profit organizations in St. Louis and across Missouri to build evaluation capacity.
Her research career has focused on understanding public health systems and the ability of programs to sustain their efforts in dynamic climates. She was one of the developers of an innovative framework and tool to assess the sustainability of organizations and programs; the application of social network analysis as an evaluation approach to understanding public health systems; and the first school tobacco policy assessment tool to evaluate the comprehensiveness of school tobacco policies.
In 2007, Nancy became the founding board chair of Tobacco Free Missouri, the statewide coalition focused on reducing the burden of tobacco through policy change and education. As chair, she led the development of the Coalition's infrastructure, enhanced and expanded partnerships with statewide organizations, and strengthened the grassroots network to support community tobacco policy efforts. Nancy holds a master's of public health degree from the University of Texas-Houston.
Nancy loves to travel, laugh with her kids, and push herself out of her comfort zone.
Job Titles:
- Director of Learning and Evaluation, Former Evaluation Center Director
Nikole is the Director of Learning and Evaluation and the James S. McDonnell Foundation. She was the Evaluation Center Director from May 2022- March 2024.
Nikole has over 18 years of experience in program and systems-level evaluation, project management, evaluation capacity-building, data visualization, and innovative and effective dissemination and reporting. One of the things she loves most about being an evaluator is the diverse set of responsibilities - from designing meaningful evaluations, to analyzing data, to effectively communicating findings into actionable recommendations, and supporting stakeholders as they build their capacity to better understand, document, and communicate their impact. Nikole led evaluation activities for a number of Center projects, co-facilitated the development and implementation of the Center's strategic plan, provided operational guidance for Center staff, and identified and implemented new opportunities and partnerships. In addition, Nikole provided data collection, management, and analysis guidance for Center projects and led training and educational opportunities. Nikole also led post-master's certificate programs in Program Evaluation and Visualizing and Communicating Data at the Brown School and served as the Vice-President of Evaluation Association of St. Louis (EASL).
Nikole had been a part of the Brown School family since 2011. Prior to joining the Evaluation Center, Nikole served as the associate director of the Center for Public Health Systems Science (CPHSS). At CPHSS, she oversaw their evaluation portfolio, provided operational and programmatic guidance, and expanded their research and evaluation partnerships across the region and nationally. She led mixed methods and multi-year evaluations for numerous projects and initiatives such as, a state obesity prevention initiative, a comprehensive state tobacco control program, and an early childhood home visitation program, and a local school-based health clinic. In addition, she worked with several non-profit or community-based organizations to build evaluation capacity through technical assistance and training.
Prior to joining the Brown School, Nikole was Program Director of Evaluation Services at a non-profit in New York City where she oversaw the evaluation of roughly 100 out-of-school time and summer programs. She holds a master's degree in applied anthropology.
Nikole loves to travel with her family, try new food and restaurants, and go see live music.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor at the Brown School
Patricia Kohl is an associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. She served as co-principal investigator on the Fathers & Families Support Center Impact Evaluation project.
Her scholarship is focused on strengthening, implementing, and sustaining evidence-based interventions that improve the quality of care for vulnerable families. Through her research, which is informed by years of clinical practice with children and families, she seeks to close the gap between research and community-based practice.
Her intervention and implementation research involves analyses of large datasets to examine how characteristics of parents within the child welfare service system influence parenting behaviors, child emotional and behavioral health, and the safety of children. Kohl is currently working to adapt an evidence-based parent training program to increase father participation, as well as to improve father-child interactions. Her work has received financial support from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Co - Investigator
Patrick Fowler is a co-investigator on the Fathers & Families Support Center Impact Evaluation project and an associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. He has also collaborated with the Evaluation Center on several grant submissions.
Patrick Fowler is trained in clinical psychology with specializations in community psychology and child development. Dr. Fowler's research focuses on programs and policies that promote housing stability among at-risk children and families. His work uses innovative methods to investigate the longitudinal associations of housing instability and emotional, behavioral, and educational outcomes.
Fowler also serves as affiliated faculty in the Clinical and Community Psychology Programs at DePaul University in Chicago. At the Brown School, Fowler teaches courses on program evaluation and developmental psychopathology.
Job Titles:
- Professor at the Prevention Research Center
- Research Assistant Professor, Prevention Research Center
Peg Allen is a research assistant professor at the Prevention Research Center in St. Louis and the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. She works on Project STRIDE which is studying how best to support state health departments in workforce development and capacity building for evidence-based chronic disease prevention. She is also interested in supporting partnering organizations in enhancing such capacity. She also works on indoor environments for older adult walking as part of her interest in older adult mobility and physical activity.
She received her PhD at the Brown School while studying built environment correlates of older adult physical activity and health. She also has an MPH from the University of Michigan and BSN from the University of Missouri, and is a Certified Public Health Educator. Her previous research was in tobacco prevention and school health promotion. Her career has been devoted to chronic disease prevention through tobacco and school health policy and programs, adult health, and prevention research.
Rachel is an evaluation manager, and is the capacity building manager at the Center. Her main projects include the evaluations of Rung for Women and Cigna Foundation's Healthier Kids for Our Future Initiative. She has experience with project management, technical assistance, data collection &analysis, and translation & dissemination. Rachel is passionate about using data to inform interventions for systemic change. Prior to joining the Evaluation Center, Rachel worked with the Show-Me School-Based Health Alliance of Missouri and Health Equity Works, a research-based initiative housed in the Brown School that specializes in bringing quality, accessible research on health disparities into communities to accelerate collaborative action and systems change.
Rachel enjoys bike rides with her kids, baking, and getting lost in a good book.
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator at the Prevention Research Center
- Project Coordinator, Prevention Research Center
Renee Parks is a project coordinator at the Prevention Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis. Renee has more than ten years of experience with the development, implementation and evaluation of health promotion and prevention initiatives in various settings, including corporations, higher education and nonprofit, community-based organizations, most recently as program director for Girls on the Run St. Louis.
She obtained a Master of Science in Exercise Science & Wellness from Arizona State University. Renee's professional interests include chronic disease prevention and health promotion in individuals and communities, and environmental influences on physical activity and healthy eating. She enjoys spending time with Adam, her husband and their little girl, Elise, specifically being active and exploring the outdoors and local parks. Renee also enjoys serving as a volunteer for several local nonprofit organizations.