Faculty and staff

Executive Committee

Faculty

Staff

Mirar Bristol-Demeter, MA is Project Director at CEGeM in the Division of General Internal Medicine. Mirar works closely with both the Executive Committee and Research Staff to coordinate ongoing and future research at CEGeM. She holds a Master of Arts from the Graduate Institute and has been managing research at Penn since 2006. Prior to her current role at CEGeM, Mirar worked as Project Manager in the Division of General Internal Medicine and as Research Coordinator in the Division of Outcomes Research, Department of Surgery.

Leigh J. Boghossian, MPH is Project Manager for the Center for Comparative Effectiveness in Genomic Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania.  She graduated from Dickinson College in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and holds a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management from Emory University.  Her main areas of interest in research include long-term and late effects of cancer, organ donor behavior, and bioethics of end-of-life treatment.  She is particularly interested in the translation of basic biomedical research to health care delivery and public health policy.

Danae DiRocco, MPH is Project Manager and is currently working on a comparative effectiveness study with a personalized tobacco cessation intervention in primary care.  She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Public Health from Columbia University.  She is currently completing post-baccalaureate work at Penn to apply to medical school.  Her research interests include substance abusing and medically underserved populations and bridging the gap between research and practice.

Elizabeth Handorf, MS is a doctoral candidate in Biostatistics at Penn.  Her research interests include genetics and cost-effectiveness, so she is very pleased to be working at CEGeM.  As part of the evidence synthesis team, she is working on building cost-effectiveness models.

Sean McElligott, MS is a doctoral candidate in Wharton's Health Care Management and Economics Department and is also a Sr. Economic Analyst and Bio-statistician in the Division of General Internal Medicine. Sean's research interest includes investigating the impact of pharmaceutical benefit design on drug utilization, the use of mandates and exemptions by policy makers and its impact on vaccination rates, the determinants of uptake of vaccines in developing countries, and comparative and cost-effectiveness research.

Kate Volpicelli is the Project Coordinator with the Center for Behavior Research, in which she aims to evaluate the impact of tailored interventions on prevention and early detection of skin cancer among higher risk individuals, and currently coordinates CEGeM research on melanoma and tailored risk. She graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in 2007 with a B.S. in Psychology. She is currently studying at University of Pennsylvania, where she will obtain a Masters in Public Health degree upon the completion of her studies.

Marisa Jones is a Research Coordinator for the Evidence Generation branch. Marisa is a graduate of Tufts University, with a degree in Political Science and Community Health, and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Social Policy at Penn. She plans to focus on increasing access to quality health care in her graduate studies. Previous areas of research include: immigrant access to health and social services in Somerville, MA and barriers to educational attainment in pregnant and parenting teens in the state of Massachusetts.

Noora Marcus is a Research Coordinator for Evidence Synthesis, working on all evidence generation projects of the Center. She graduated from Dickinson College in 2009 with a degree in Sociology, emphasis on medical sociology, and a certificate in Health Studies. She hopes to continue her studies and pursue her Master's in a health related field.

Tracey Fredricks is Research Coordinator for CEGem. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a sub-concentration in Health & Aging, and a minor in Gender & Health from the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor. She hopes to continue her studies and pursue her Master's in Public Health and Social Welfare.  

Lache Wilkins is a Research Coordinator for CEGeM. She received her Bachelor of Science in Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science from the University of Michigan. She hopes to continue her studies and pursue a Master's in Clinical Psychology. Her research interests include mental health awareness in underserved communities and substance abuse.

Kathleen Ryan is an Administrative Coordinator for CEGeM