Lisa Fleisher, PhD, MPH

Executive Vice President

Dr. Fleisher is a strategic partner to HCCI’s CEO, working to translate organizational vision into actionable objectives.

With 20 years of experience in health financing, Dr. Fleisher’s work focuses on the intersection of research and policy to strengthen how health systems work for the people who use them. Prior to joining HCCI, and as the Chief of the Health Financing and Economics Branch in USAID’s Office of HIV/AIDS, she provided strategic and technical leadership to strengthen health financing for universal health coverage. Throughout her career, Dr. Fleisher has provided health financing policy advisory services, distilling complex information in an easily digestible manner and basing decisions and actions on sound analytics.

Dr. Fleisher received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University. She received her PhD in Health Policy and Management and her Master's in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Outside of work, Dr. Fleisher enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time outside in her garden.

John Hargraves, MPP

Director of Data Strategy

Mr. Hargraves oversees HCCI’s multi-payer commercial claims dataset. An expert in commercial claims, he is responsible for developing and implementing HCCI’s data infrastructure strategy, including the architecture of the HCCI dataset. He also oversees the organization’s data privacy, security, and de-identification activities. His research focuses on the impact of policy and regulatory changes on health care spending and service use, and he often collaborates with media outlets to help tell stories with data. Prior to joining HCCI, Mr. Hargraves worked as a researcher at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services studying geographic variation, chronic conditions, and hospice using Medicare claims data.

John received his BS in Economics from Binghamton University and his MPP with a concentration in Program Evaluation from the George Washington University.

John is an avid outdoorsman, comic convention nerd, and TV enthusiast.

Daniel Kurowski, MPH

Senior Advisor

Mr. Kurowski has nearly 20 years of experience in health care data analytics across the government and non-profit sectors; his work focuses on bringing meaningful information on health care utilization and disease burden to public health, health care providers, and health policy decision makers. Daniel has returned to HCCI, having helped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on their data modernization effort as the Branch Chief of the National Syndromic Surveillance Program in the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology.

Daniel received his MPH in health policy from the Boston University School of Public Health and a BS in human biology and a BA in history from the University of California, San Diego.

A true native of southern California, Daniel enjoys spending time at the beach, hiking, and going to Dodgers games whenever the schedule permits.

Bianca Silva Gordon, MPH

Senior Researcher

Ms. Silva Gordon focuses on price and utilization trends in Medicare and implications of health care cost on health equity. Prior to HCCI, Bianca worked at the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program as a project assistant. She also served a year with AmeriCorps and worked at Epic Systems where she assisted large health care organizations in managing their electronic health record systems.

Bianca received her BS from Cornell University in Biology and Society and her MPH from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In her free time, Bianca enjoys roller skating, experimenting in the kitchen, and spending time with her dog, Frannie.

Chelsea Smith

Senior Operations Manager

Ms. Smith is responsible for increasing the efficiency of HCCI's organizational policies and procedures to enhance internal capacity and improve resource allocation. Prior to joining HCCI, Chelsea managed design studio operations, event operations and was a project manager and client experience specialist for businesses offering premium goods and services. Her varied and extensive history with boutique owner-operator and family-owned businesses has given her a unique perspective on how to build productive systems for small teams with high output. Chelsea studied interior design at Mount Ida College, School of Design, which is now UMass Amherst. After many years supporting the design and sales industries, her desire to pivot into mission-driven services for the public good led her to HCCI.

She is an avid reader, a skilled calligrapher, and an event stylist with a passion for functional, organized, and curated home design.

Jessica Chang, Ph.D

Associate Director of Research

Dr. Chang works on HCCI’s data infrastructure efforts and focuses on flagship products, such as the Health Care Cost and Utilization Report. An expert in commercial claims, her research interests focus on health care competition, health policy, and behavioral economics. Prior to HCCI, Jessica worked at OptumLabs as a senior analyst, where she worked on research projects and programmed analytical datasets from a large administrative claims data warehouse. She has published numerous peer-reviewed papers on 340B, commercial prices, and physician-administered drugs.

Jessica received her BAs in Economics and International Relations and an MA in Economics from Boston University. She received her PhD in Health Services Research, Policy and Administration with a concentration in Economics at University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

A native of Honolulu, Jessica enjoys her annual winter trips home to escape the winters on the mainland. She enjoys biking, traveling and cooking.

Kelsey Burke, MPH

Senior Researcher

Ms. Burke is a Senior Researcher at HCCI. She has over 10 years of experience utilizing large datasets to inform business decisions in the healthcare sector. Kelsey started her career as a management consultant working with health plans. After receiving her MPH, she worked for NYC Health & Hospitals’ Correctional Health Division where she performed research on health outcomes of incarcerated patients in New York. Prior to HCCI, Kelsey managed a team of data analysts for a self-insured health plan where utilization and cost trends were closely examined in an effort to maintain costs while providing quality care to 200,000 union members in the New York City metro area.

Kelsey received her BA in Economics from the University of Notre Dame and her MPH in Epidemiology from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Outside of work, Kelsey enjoys running, hiking, and cycling. She’s probably planning her next race or trip right now!

Chris Frenier, PhD

Senior Researcher

Dr. Frenier is a Senior Researcher at HCCI. He has over a decade of experience using large claims and enrollment datasets to conduct research on health care use, pricing, and competition. His prior work focused on enrollment patterns, utilization, and competition in the Medicaid program and how Medicaid managed care policies affect access and quality for adults and children in the program. Before joining HCCI, Chris was a Senior Analyst at Abt Global, where he conducted evaluations of Medicaid care delivery models in partnership with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at CMS. He also has research experience at the Health Economics Program at the Minnesota Department of Health, where he used the Minnesota All Payer Claims Database to study interactions between the commercial insurance and Medicaid managed care sectors.

Chris received his BA in Economics and Philosophy from Marquette University and his PhD in Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration with a concentration in Health Economics from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale School of Public Health.

Chris enjoys cross-country skiing, trail running, and going to the movies. He spends much of the winter traveling to community ski races around the upper Midwest.

Linsay Sarfo

Associate

Ms. Sarfo supports projects across HCCI assisting with each stage of the research process. She also works with external researchers to license HCCI data. Linsay recently graduated from American University with a BA in Public Health on the pre-med track, where her capstone project focused on environmental health impacts on children in the DC area. Her interests include maternal and child health and health equity.

In her free time, Linsay enjoys visiting her family and trying out new restaurants in New York City. She also enjoys traveling and painting.

Paris Carter, PMP

Project Manager

Ms. Carter is the Project Manager at HCCI, overseeing the resources and managing the logistics of our flagship projects and diverse group of stakeholders. Prior to joining our team, she received her BS in Liberal Arts from Morgan State University. She spent 5 years employed with the General Services Administration as a contractor, with a focus on operations and maintenance projects. Her passion for assisting others, led her into a career in healthcare to include maternal-child health, oncology, orthopedics and first responder care.

In her free time, Paris enjoys roller skating with friends, and outdoor activities. She also has a great appreciation for the arts and is an experienced acrylic artist.

Tanya Natwick

Associate Director of Data Strategy

Ms. Natwick supports projects across HCCI with a focus on data analytics and programming. With experience in both commercial and Medicare Fee-For-Service claims, she is interested in health economics and outcomes research, maternal health, and health policy. Prior to HCCI, Tanya worked at OptumLabs as a lead research analyst where she supported research projects and programmed analytical datasets from a large administrative claims data warehouse. Previously, she was a biostatistician for the Chronic Disease Research Group. Tanya received her BA in chemistry and mathematics with a concentration in statistics from Saint Olaf College.

Outside of work, Tanya likes hiking and eating pizza with her husband and dog. She also enjoys spending time outside gardening with her chickens.

Catalina DeSouza, MPH

Research Associate

Ms. DeSouza assists senior members in conducting timely health policy research, as well as supporting claims data analysis while on the predoctoral track.

She has been involved in public health for over 4 years and has held multiple internships advocating for the health of women, children, and families. This includes experiences ranging from areas such as health policy at Nemours Children's Health to evidence and implementation at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP). Her interests include reproductive justice, harm reduction, and health equity.

Catalina received both her BS and MPH from the George Washington University.

In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, weightlifting, and watching hockey.