Behavioral Scientist and Health Economist Join Abt

Abt Associates has appointed Mark Spranca PhD, an expert in behavioral science, and Carol Simon PhD, a health economics expert, to its Health Policy and Clinical Research Division. Both are also members of the Abt Associates Fellows, and Spranca will lead the company's Research Methods and Analytics Group.

Spranca previously spent 10 years with RAND Corporation, managing more than 200 scientists and other professionals in RAND's behavioral and social sciences group. His career has involved conducting research in health policy, teaching health and psychology, and helping start-up enterprises to commercialise health services research. He has PhD and MA degrees in social psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.

In his new role, he will lead the company's Research Methods and Analytics Group - a new initiative designed to develop technical staff and promote knowledge sharing across the company - as well as acting as VP in the Health Policy and Clinical Research Division.

Kathleen Flanagan, the company's VP for Domestic Practices, says Spranca's leadership of the new group will 'help Abt Associates continue to develop and retain the Company's technical staff', commenting that, 'in a company as large and diverse as Abt Associates, it's critical to ensure that synergies are well developed among staff, that intellectual capital is shared, and that our working environment attracts the best and the brightest'.

Simon worked most recently as Associate Professor and Director of the Health Economics Program at the Boston University School of Public Health. She was the principal investigator on a $3 million, federally-funded study of managed care and financial incentives. in the past, she has also examined quality of care, the causes of disparities in care, the economics of cancer screening programs, asthma treatment guidelines, and the costs and benefits of caesarean deliveries in low-risk women. She gained a PhD in Economics/Industrial Organization from the University of Chicago.

At Abt, she will contribute to the company's health policy practice and expanding government-sponsored clinical research work.

Abt Associates applies research to a wide range of social, economic and technological policy issues; international development; clinical trials; and business problems. The company is online at www.abtassociates.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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