Our Team

Research teams at the Center for Outcomes Research (COR) conduct applied research, lead innovation in research design, promote capacity to conduct health outcomes research, and provide national and international leadership in transformations in healthcare delivery and improvements in patient outcomes. In 2019 alone, COR scientists published over 50 papers in leading peer-reviewed journals and were invited by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. Congress, and the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as experts on topics such as sepsis recognition and response, the state of telemedicine, and public health research methodology. The COR is uniquely positioned to draw support and direction from the rich clinical environment that characterizes Houston Methodist and to engage multi-disciplinary research faculty and students from Texas A&M University in the fields of health services research, health policy and economics, health systems engineering, architecture, computer science, public health, and architecture. Our interdisciplinary research portfolio focuses on improving the outcomes for patients treated in acute-care settings and throughout the cycle of their care to the ambulatory setting and their communities.

Center Leadership

• Bita Kash, PhD, MBA, FACHE, Director

• Khurram Nasir, MD, MPH, Co-Director
• Farhaan Vahidy, PhD, MBBS, MPH, Associate Director

Faculty

• Stephen Jones, MD, Big Data, AI, and Health Informatics Chief
• Terri Menser, PhD, MBA, Scientist
• George Naufal, PhD, Scientist, Health Economics and Machine Learning Chief
• Farzan Sasangohar, PhD, Scientist, Health Systems Engineering Chief
• Susan Xu, PhD, Biostatistician, Statistics & Research Design Chief
• Carol Ashton, MD, MPH, Emeritus
• Nelda Wray, MD, MPH, Emeritus

Staff

• Lauren Beal, Research Technician
• Budhaditya Bose, Data Scientist
• Sara Butt, MS, Data Engineer
• Rakesh Gullapelli, MS, Data Scientist
• David Hsu, Biostatistician
• Carnayla Johnson, Research Assistant I
• Osman Khan, Research Database Analyst
• Jacob Kolman, MA, Senior Scientific Writer
• Jennifer Meeks, MS, CCRP, Program Project Manager
• Charlie Nicolas, Systems Architect
• Marilyn Niravath, Research Database Analyst
• Tariq Nisar, MPH, Biostatistician
• Nwabunie Nwana, Data Scientist
• Adriana Ordonez, PhD, Biostatistician
• Alan Pan, MS, Data Scientist
• Sharmila Pratap, Senior Applications Analyst
• Jacob Siahaan, Graduate Research Fellow
• Mauricio Tano, PhD, Data Scientist

Postdoctoral Fellows

• Isaac Acquah, MBChB, MPH, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Nima Ahmadi, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Juha Baek, DrPH, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Abdulaziz Bako, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Kobina Hagan, MBChB, MPH, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Zulqarnain Javed, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Thomas Potter, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Bridget Simon-Friedt, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

Affiliate Faculty & Staff

• Miguel Cainzos-Achirica, MD, MPH, PhD
• Edward A. Graviss, PhD, MPH 
• Linda Moore, PhD, RD
• Raj Satkunasivam, MD, MS, FRCSC
• Joshua T. Swan, PharmD, MPH, BCPS
• Nabil Tariq, MD
• Stephanie Yi, MD

Administrative Staff

• Jennifer Taylor, MBA, Research Administrator
• Megan Taubert, MHA, Program Project Manager