Nihaarika Sharma, M.S.W., M.P.H.

Nikhita Allam

Research Associate

Nikhita Allam is a Research Associate at L&M Policy Research with experience in population health consulting, economic evaluation and health policy analysis, grant writing, and public health equity research. At L&M, Ms. Allam performs quantitative and qualitative evaluation for federal clients including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as private client research contracts. Using both STATA and SAS, Ms. Allam works with survey data, Medicare claims data, and publicly available datasets providing analytical support to the L&M team.

Lauren Blatt

Senior Researcher

Lauren Blatt is a Senior Researcher at L&M Policy Research. She has spent over 20 years using qualitative and quantitative research methods and analyses to inform, evaluate, and improve health care programs and performance. Ms. Blatt is also experienced in developing outreach, education, and application and decision-support materials and tools for a variety of target audiences and has conducted hundreds of key informant interviews, in-depth formative, cognitive and usability interviews, focus groups, and small group discussions with consumers, Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers, health care providers, and other professionals.

Michael Cavanaugh, M.A.

Senior Researcher

Michael Cavanaugh, M.A., is a Senior Researcher at L&M Policy Research, specializing in community-based participatory research and evaluation with tribal communities. His expertise spans ethnography, qualitative research methods, and culturally responsive evaluation strategies. At the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Office of Minority Health (OMH), Mr. Cavanaugh leads the Voices for Equity Impact project, conducting in-depth interviews on lived experiences related to health equity and healthcare access challenges among underserved communities. He also plays a key role in the Tribal Data Learning Community (TDLC) Pilot Program, a first-of-its-kind effort supporting the provision of CMS data and technical assistance to Tribal Epidemiology Centers.

Ann Cheng, M.P.H.

Research Associate

Ann Cheng, M.P.H., is a Research Associate at L&M Policy Research. Ms. Cheng has experience conducting survey research, in-depth interviews, and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data. At L&M, she currently assists in projects for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to better understand the attitudes and behaviors of both Marketplace and Medicare populations.  Additionally, Ms. Cheng recently assisted with a survey project to improve Medicare Outreach and Communication and provided support during the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule through triaging comments in response to the proposed regulatory action.

Sally Crelia, M.P.H.

Senior Research Director

Sally Crelia, M.P.H., is a Senior Research Director at L&M Policy Research. She has extensive experience in various methods of qualitative research, including designing, conducting and analyzing results from cognitive and in-depth interviews, small group discussions, focus groups, and key informant interviews, in English and in Spanish. Ms. Crelia has a particular interest in conducting healthcare-related research with vulnerable populations, including a wide range of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and their caregivers; racial and ethnic minorities; persons with limited English-speaking capability; and the uninsured and underinsured. She has also conducted research with a variety of healthcare professionals, community-based organizations, and advocacy groups that serve vulnerable populations.

Colleen Dobson, M.S.

Senior Researcher

Colleen Dobson, M.S., is a Senior Researcher at L&M Policy Research with over a decade of experience conducting qualitative research to support health care communication and evaluation projects, with a particular focus on Medicare and the Health Insurance Marketplace. Ms. Dobson has conducted hundreds of in-depth interviews and focus groups with consumer audiences including Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers, Marketplace enrollees, uninsured individuals, and individuals with disabilities and chronic conditions. She has also led key informant interviews and focus groups with consumer groups, providers, and state and local government.

Julia Doherty, M.H.S.A.

Senior Research Director

Julia A. Doherty, M.H.S.A., is a Senior Research Director at L&M Policy Research. Ms. Doherty has over 30 years of experience in health care management, policy, and research. She held executive posts in a health maintenance organization, a major academic hospital, a community health center, and a management consulting firm prior to joining L&M. Ms. Doherty has since led multiple qualitative and quantitative research efforts conducting program assessments, performing data and program analysis and model evaluation. She has facilitated multiple national and state stakeholder meetings and managed national expert panels on health care delivery and payment reform. She has conducted over 1,000 key informant interviews and case studies nationwide with key health care executives and staff across multiple settings with providers, payers, state agencies, suppliers, manufacturers, researchers, experts, patient advocates, beneficiaries, and other stakeholders.

Amanda Dranch

Research Associate

Amanda Dranch is a Research Associate at L&M Policy Research with qualitative research experience in sociology and health policy. At L&M, Ms. Dranch provides support in client management, environmental scans, and executing qualitative research protocols. She primarily contributes to projects aiding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Currently, Ms. Dranch assists with primary data collection, analysis, and synthesis to evaluate and inform the implementation of the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (ACO REACH) Model; develops content for collaborative learning webinars as part of the Value Based Care Learning System Contract; and supports the assessment of Improvement Activities in CMS Alternative Payment Models for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance.

Mei-Chia Fong, Ph.D.

Senior Researcher

Mei-Chia Fong, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher at L&M Policy Research with nine years of post-doctorate applied research experience. Her expertise includes population and social demography; survey research; social psychology; medical sociology; health systems and services; health disparities and equity; policy analysis; and evaluation research. Dr. Fong’s recent work focuses on evaluating the effectiveness, appropriateness, and impact of public health initiatives and programs on healthcare organizations, care workforce, and population health to help inform policy planning and intervention design. At L&M, Dr. Fong currently assists with the consumer experience and outcomes with the Health Insurance Marketplace. She also provides technical support for a Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) pilot program aiming to advance health equity through Tribal Epidemiology Centers (TEC).

Lisa H. Green, Ph.D.

Founding Principal

Lisa H. Green, Ph.D., is a Founding Principal of L&M Policy Research and brings over two decades of experience as a health services researcher focused on health care access, quality and costs for populations covered under federal health care programs. Dr. Green has a particular interest in how these programs impact overlooked communities and the role of health care reform in reducing long-standing health and health care disparities.

Judy Gutierrez, M.H.A.

Researcher

Judy Gutierrez, M.H.A., is a Researcher at L&M Policy Research. She has extensive experience in project management, health administration, data collection, and working to advance health equity for marginalized communities. At L&M, Ms. Gutierrez collaborates closely with project teams, leading and supporting various qualitative research studies and ensuring project deliverables are completed. She supports the designing and executing of research protocols, including primary data collection with healthcare consumers in Spanish and English. Currently, Ms. Gutierrez supports consumer testing research projects for Healthcare.gov, utilizing focus groups, in-depth interviews, and small group discussions to enhance web tool usability and develop effective communication strategies.

Chelsea Hipwell, M.P.H.

Research Associate

Chelsea Hipwell, M.P.H., is a Research Associate at L&M Policy Research. Ms. Hipwell has nearly five years of experience working on qualitative public health research in both English and Spanish with an emphasis on improving equitable access to healthcare and social determinants of health. At L&M, Ms. Hipwell supports research to improve outreach and education efforts and refine decision-support tools for Health Insurance Marketplace consumers and Medicare beneficiaries for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) by monitoring recruitment, conducting in-depth interviews, and analyzing qualitative data. She has supported a range of projects to date, including formative research, usability testing, and ad concept testing.

Cloris Huan

Research Assistant

Cloris Huan is a Research Assistant at L&M Policy Research with experience in qualitative and quantitative research in public health and health policy. Ms. Huan has experience conducting in-depth interviews, literature reviews, environmental scans, qualitative coding, report analysis and writing. At L&M, Ms. Huan primarily assists with the primary data collection, analysis, and synthesis of various consumer testing research projects on usability testing of web tools and content related to Medicare and the federally facilitated Health Insurance Marketplace. Ms. Huan also aids in primary data collection and analysis for the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (ACO REACH) model evaluation for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Margaret Edder Johnson, M.B.A.

Director

Margaret E. Johnson, M.B.A., is a Director at L&M Policy Research. She brings over 25 years of experience in federal and state health care policy, research, and management. She brings extensive experience conducting primary research data collection, having led and analyzed hundreds of key informant interviews and focus groups with state health officials, providers, payers, consumers, and employers about the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Ms. Johnson is experienced in analyzing and reporting findings using qualitative methods, designing and writing case studies, leading site visits, and conducting environmental scans. Her policy areas of expertise include a range of topics including the intersection of public benefits in the U.S. – especially for older adults; social determinants of health and equity issues experienced by vulnerable Medicare, Medicaid and Marketplace populations; and innovations in Medicare and Medicaid payment policy.

Ferhat Q. Kassamali, M.Sc., M.P.H.

Senior Researcher

Ferhat Q. Kassamali, M.Sc., M.P.H., is a Senior Researcher at L&M Policy Research. He has over two decades of experience in financial analysis and modeling, strategic planning, business operations, data analytics, prospective payment systems, program evaluation, and general health care policy and research. Mr. Kassamali has extensive project management experience having successfully managed numerous multi-year projects, as well as project teams involving multiple subcontractors.

William Lane

Senior Researcher

William P. Lane, is a Senior Researcher at L&M Policy Research. He has more than 30 years of experience in organizational strategy and operations, managed care operational assessments, and formative and evaluative research, including key informant interviews and case studies with consumer groups, providers, government agencies, and consumers across a range of health care topics. Notable project work includes coordinating the first health insurance conferences in India and Egypt, several managed care evaluations for participating in the Medicare or Medicaid programs, and assessing communications strategies for a number of products involving targeted populations in order to increase the use of services, particularly preventive healthcare.

Anna Lloyd

Research Assistant

Anna Lloyd is a Research Assistant at L&M Policy Research. Ms. Lloyd has experience in qualitative research methods, including protocol development, in-depth interviews, and analysis. At L&M, she primarily supports consumer research projects focused on the development of web tools, and education and outreach materials. Ms. Lloyd currently conducts consumer research to improve the Health Insurance Marketplace for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), with the goal of promoting and assisting enrollment in health insurance. Ms. Lloyd also assists with outreach and education research for the Alzheimer’s Association and Medicare.gov.

Alyson Emily Marano, R.N., M.P.H.

Senior Researcher

Alyson Emily Marano, R.N., M.P.H., is a Senior Researcher at L&M Policy Research with more than 20 years of experience working on public health issues for a variety of audiences, including target audiences for The Health Insurance Marketplace as well as Medicare and Medicaid eligible populations. She has assisted with, and extensively supported the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) contracts related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as well as the agency’s work in communications with the Medicare and Medicaid population over the last decade.

Madelyn J. McDonald, M.P.H.

Research Coordinator

Madelyn J. McDonald, M.P.H., is a Research Coordinator at L&M Policy Research. She has expertise in substance abuse research and treatment, behavioral health, health policy, population health, and qualitative research with vulnerable populations. Ms. McDonald has extensive project management experience, having successfully managed numerous multi-year projects spanning government, academia, and private institutions. Her recent work includes supporting a regulation and comment analysis project on physician payment and Medicare Advantage for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a project for the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) offering research and analytic support with qualitative research on billing practices of inpatient psychiatric facilities.

Heather McPheron, M.P.H.

Director

Heather McPheron, M.P.H., is a Director at L&M Policy Research with over 15 years of experience in health care delivery, policy, and payment innovation. Her consulting expertise spans operations improvement, program implementation, evaluation, and policy analysis. She excels in project management, data collection design, qualitative analysis, and regulatory review. Ms. McPheron has led interviews and case studies with health care leaders and provided training and technical assistance, ensuring tailored insights and impactful results for clients and stakeholders.

Our Team