Leadership & Staff

Lori Ann Post, PhD

Buehler Center for Health Policy and Economics, Director

Dr. Post is the Buehler Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Departments of Emergency Medicine and Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. She did her training in Anatomy and Toxicology at the Faculdade de Medicina - Câmpus de Botucatu, Brazi; Forensic Science and Osteology at the University of London and Cambridge University respectively; International Development, African Studies, Demography, and Applied Demography (Sociology) from MSU; and postdoc in a joint program at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control in Epidemiology.

Dr. Post is a lifelong student completing certificate programs at Carnegie Mellon University in Multiple System Estimation Techniques and Log Linear Modeling, Geographical Information Systems from both Penn State and Harvard University. She recently completed the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine from Drexel University. As a sociologist, Dr. Post studies the roll of Public and Political Will in social change, how to mobilize “will” to create better policy. She was a Rockefeller Fellow and served as a “scholar in residence” at the Bellagio Center in Italy where she worked on a body of science to define public and political will and its application in a variety of public health issues. Her Public and Political Will research has been funded by the USAID, USDA-International, the World Bank and the Department of Defense. Her injury prevention work has been funded by both Medicare and Medicaid, the Centers for Disease Control, Robert Wood Johnson, the Skillman Foundation, Department of Education, AHRQ, National Institute of Justice, and Office for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Currently, Dr. Post’s injury work on Elder Abuse is funded by the Department of Justice- Office for Victims of Crime, Opioid impact on rural economies is funded by USDA, and her policy work on food security is funded by USAID. Before coming to Northwestern, Post was Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Research Director and Section Chief of Research at the Yale School of Medicine, Faculty affiliate of the Yale Center for Informatics, and a Research Scientist at the Veterans Administration.

Maryann Mason, PhD

Buehler Center for Health Policy and Economics, Associate Director

Maryann Mason, PhD is an Assistant Research Professor in thDr. Mason is the principal investigator for the Illinois Violent Death Reporting System (IVDRS) and works closely with the Illinois Department of Public Health to led work on the Statewide Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS), Illinois’ opioid overdose fatality tracking system. She received her PhD in Sociology from Loyola University of Chicago. Her areas of research include qualitative methods, public health surveillance systems, child health and well-being, community-engaged research and injury and violence prevention.

Dr. Mason is interested in health and well-being as fostered by community conditions. As a sociologist she work to understand environmental, cultural, institutional and social influences on health and well being across the life course especially in low resourced and communities of color. She has experience and interest in community engaged scholarship.

She has worked in the areas of injury and obesity prevention with a focus on community programming and environmental interventions. My focus is on collaborative research and evaluation to improve the health and well-being of children and their communities with emphasis on socio-ecological approaches to health.

Hannes Schwandt, PhD

Buehler Center for Health Policy and Economics, Associate Director

Economist Hannes Schwandt’s research agenda lies at the intersection of health economics, labor economics, and economic demography. His work focuses on the role of health in determining economic inequality, covering threats to population health including car pollution, addiction, gun violence, infectious disease, and business cycle shocks.

Hannes’ research has been published in Science, JAMA, PNAS, the Review of Economic Studies, and the Harvard Business Review, and it is frequently covered in leading national and international media outlets. His most recent research, published in JAMA, shows how the pandemic exacerbated existing income and race/ethnicity disparities in life expectancy.

Hannes received his PhD in Economics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, followed by a three-year postdoc at Princeton University. Before joining Northwestern, he spent three years as assistant professor at University of Zurich and one year at Stanford University.

Staff

Alicia Jones

Data Assistant

Kathryn (Kitty) Klement

Data Assistant Associate

Karla Cervantes

Data Assistant Associate

Kena Noland

Data Assistant Associate

Kim Voss

Data Assistant Associate

Michael Gsell

Data Assistant Associate

Samantha Cervantes

Data Assistant Associate

Sarah Morimoto

Data Assistant Associate

Uriah Williams

Data Assistant Associate

Antigone Kouvelis

Senior Program Administrator, IVDRS/SUDORS

Manages IVDRS and SUDORS operations, ensures data quality, meets deadlines, and supports staff. Maintains relationships with partners and seeks expansion opportunities.

Kathleen Kelly

Senior Program Coordinator, IVDRS/SUDORS

As the outreach coordinator for central and southern Illinois, she aims to connect data with the community, presenting to raise awareness and inform prevention strategies, engaging with local and state organizations for greater impact.

Melissa Imburgia, MA

Senior Program Coordinator, Buehler Center

Serves as the administrator for the Center, overseeing all administrative operations, including facilities management, financial matters, HR and hiring processes, event coordination, and day-to-day supply and inventory management.

Nia Jovan Andrews, MJ

Senior Communication Coordinator, IVDRS/SUDORS & Communication Director, Global Opioid Crisis Project

Maintains the dissemination and website infrastructure of IVDRS & SUDORS; Newly aligned to establish the web presence for the Global Opioid Crisis Project.

Oyindamola Ajala, MPH

Data Research Analyst, IVDRS/SUDORS

Conducts complex analyses, fulfills data requests, and creates maps using statistical software tools, particularly Caliper Maptitude, for intervention strategies.

Sarah Welch, MPH

Director of Evaluation Research

Sarah and her team provide high-quality evaluation services to Northwestern faculty, staff, and community organizations working on public health research, policy, and programming efforts.

Spencer Cox

Geospatial Specialist

Collaborates with faculty and staff researchers on geographic information systems (GIS), statistical analysis, and epidemiological methods to create informative maps and spatial analyses that contribute to the understanding and management of infectious diseases, chronic conditions, and other health-related issues.

Sean Michael Johnston

Program Coordinator - Block by Block: Block by Block: Overdose Fatality Prevention Initiative

As the program coordinator for the Illinois Statewide Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS) Block-by-Block: Overdose Fatality Prevention Initiative, he aims to introduce a harm reduction perspective to a larger institution.

Ursula Alexander, MPH

Senior Data Research Analyst, IVDRS/SUDORS

Initiates systematic data collection of violent death demographics and circumstances. Enters incidents into CDC system, analyzes, and disseminates data to partners.

Yingxuan Liu, MA

Research Data Analyst Associate, SUDORS & Global Opioid Crisis Project

Applies data science methods to key projects, develops and maintains data dashboards and serves as our data steward across all Center projects.