About
I am an associate professor in the Department of Health, Systems, Management & Policy at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Broadly, my research focuses on the evaluation of the effects of healthcare policy on expenditures, quality, and outcomes. My areas of interest include cancer care, autism in adults, and long-term care. Most of my work involves statistical modeling using observational data, in particular claims data. I teach graduate-level classes on statistical/econometric methods for health services research, health economics, and economic evaluation of healthcare policy. I used to work at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) before obtaining my doctoral degree at the University of Chicago.
My service and leadership roles include directing the Data Science component at the Population Health Shared Resources (PHSR) core at the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center. The PHSR core supports cancer health services research at the Cancer Center. I am also an editorial board member of Medical Care Research and Review (MCRR), a standing member at NIH's ODHS study section, and a President's Teaching Scholar.
Education
- - PhD, HSR (Health Economics & Biostatistics), University of Chicago
- - MA, Economics, Tufts University
- - BA, Commercial Engineering, Universidad Diego Portales (Chile) [I'm from Bolivia and kind of Argentina.]
Teaching
- - Methods for health services research I (HSMP 7607)
- - Health economics (HSMP 6604)
- - Past teaching: Economic evaluations, cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) (HSMP 6609)
Current grants and projects (selected)
- - Understanding the Burden of Long COVID among diagnosed and undiagnosed patients, CDPHE.
- - Healthcare expenditures and utilization among adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Awards
- - 2022 Research Mentor Award, University of Colorado Anschutz Research Proogram
- - 2022 President's Teaching Scholar
- - 2021 Chancellor's Teaching Recognition Award - University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz
- - 2018 Award for Excellence in Application in Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes Research (ISPOR) [Paper award]
- - 2018 Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, Colorado School of Public Health (CU Anschutz)
- - 2018 Dean's Masters Mentoring Award - University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz
- - 2015 Outstanding Performance in the General field of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago
- - 2014 Lee B. Lusted Award for Preference Assessment (student), Society for Medical Decision Making [Paper award]