Technology Evaluation Center Staff
BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION CENTER (TEC) STAFF
NAOMI ARONSON, Ph.D. Dr. Aronson is the Executive Director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Technology Evaluation Center (TEC). She has overseen TEC's development as a nationally recognized technology assessment program and an Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Dr. Aronson has directed over 300 technology assessments and 13 evidence reports for AHRQ. She has published articles in Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Cancer, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Academic Radiology, Journal of Family Practice, and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. She represented the private sector on a U.S. Agency for International Development team providing technical assistance to the Hungarian government on building evidence-based medicine capacity in the national health insurance system. She was a member of the 2007 Ontario HTA evaluation review team. Dr. Aronson is a member of the Institute of Medicine Forum on Drug Discovery Translation and Development, the Institute of Medicine Genomics Roundtable, the Steering Committee of the Chicago-Area DEcIDE Research Center, the National Business Group on Health Committee on Evidence-Based Benefit Design, and a Review Committee Co-Chair for the ISPOR 14th Annual International Meeting. Previously, Dr. Aronson was a member of Northwestern University faculty, specializing in sociology of science and medicine. She was also a post-doctoral fellow in the Science, Technology and Society Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received research awards from the National Science Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies. Dr. Aronson's academic research focused on how the organization of scientific specialties in biomedical and clinical research affects the process of scientific discovery.
Suzanne E. Belinson, Ph.D., M.P.H. Dr. Belinson is a Senior Scientist with TEC, who joined the program in July 2009. She received a B.A. in political science from Cleveland State University, and a master’s in public health from University of Pittsburgh. Her doctoral training in epidemiology was at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where her dissertation focused on cervical cancer. She has developed a strong methodological interest in the assessment of screening and diagnostic tests. Prior to coming to TEC she was a NIH post-doctoral fellow at Northwestern University working on community based cervical cancer prevention strategies for the U.S. and new screening and diagnostic test development for the developing world. She has published in Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease, International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer, and other journals.
SUSAN BENLOUCIF, Ph.D. Dr. Benloucif is Project Manager, Medical Policy; she has been with TEC since 2006. Dr. Benloucif received her training in Biological Psychology and Neuropharmacology and has been a member of the research faculty of Northwestern University since 1995; her current affiliation with Northwestern is as Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurology. Dr. Benloucif has received over ten grants and career development awards from the National Institutes of Health, with research interests that encompass the areas of neurodegeneration, neuroplasticity and brain-behavior interactions. Dr. Benloucif's recent research at Northwestern University focused on circadian rhythms, sleep, and aging, with the goal of developing treatments to improve sleep in older adults. She has presented results from these projects at national conferences and in peer-reviewed journals including Sleep, Brain Research, Journal of Biological Rhythms and the Neurobiology of Aging. While at Northwestern University Dr. Benloucif served on the Scientific Advisory Panel of the General Clinical Research Center of Northwestern Memorial Hospital and has been a frequent reviewer of journal articles and grants for the National Institutes of Health.
EDGAR BLACK, M.D. Dr. Black is Medical Director, Policy Resources; he has been with TEC since 2006. Most recently, he was Regional Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Rochester Region. His specialty is medical policy and internal medicine. He is the author of numerous articles, chapters, books, and monographs relating to clinical diagnostic strategies and health care quality improvement and also is a member of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee (MCAC). He is board-certified in internal medicine.
CLAUDIA BONNELL, R.N., M.L.S. Ms. Bonnell is Program Manager, Medical Information Services and Coding Services with TEC; she has been with TEC since 1993. She received her baccalaureate degree in nursing from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and her Master of Library and Information Sciences degree from Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois. She has completed several Medical Library Association advanced medical reference courses. She manages TEC customer relations, and is the Association's medical and dental coding specialist.
HEATHER M. BROWN, M.D. Dr. Brown is a Senior Scientist with TEC, who joined the program in March 2008. She is a board certified pathologist with subspecialty boards in cytopathology and a fellowship in oncologic surgical pathology. She received her B.S. in Biology and M.D. at the University of Illinois, and completed a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her subspecialty training was at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Florida. Some special interests include breast cancer and head and neck pathology. She has published in Cancer, Surgery, Human Pathology, Acta Cytologica, Journal of Surgical Research, and other journals.
Diane Civic, Ph.D., M.P.H. Dr. Civic is Project Manager, Medical Policy and has been with TEC since July 2009. She has over 8 years’ experience in evidence-based medicine, with interests in critical appraisal of medical literature and evidence grading systems. Prior to coming to TEC, she worked on clinical guideline development and technology assessment at Group Health Cooperative (GHC), an integrated health system based in Seattle. Dr. Civic received a B.A. from Duke University, and an M.P.H. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle. She has a background in qualitative and quantitative HIV/STD prevention research, including a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct AIDS-related research in Zimbabwe. She has published in peer-review journals such as Social Science and Medicine, AIDS Education and Prevention, AIDS Care, and the Journal of Adolescent Health.
SHARON FLAHERTY, M.A. Ms. Flaherty is the Managing Director, TEC Operations; she joined the program in September 2008. Most recently she was Vice President, Health Management Operations, with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. Prior to that, she served as Vice President for a Midwest post-acute facility and for a national research firm, consultant to several major health plans, and adjunct faculty at Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska. Ms. Flaherty spent more than twenty years with the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program and was a founding member of Kaiser Permanente's national New Technologies Evaluation Committee. She received her Masters in Economics from the University of California at Davis.
JOHN FRICK, R.Ph., M.S. Mr. Frick is Director, Pharmacy Initiatives, TEC; he joined the program in September 2008. He has over 15 years of experience in managed care and retail pharmacy. He received his bachelors degree in pharmacy practice from the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois Chicago Medical Center and his Masters in Health Systems Management from Rush University in Chicago. He was previously Director of Clinical Account Management for Innoviant, a Midwest-based pharmacy benefits administrator. From 1999 through 2005 he was also Pharmacy Services Director for First Health, a health benefit management company headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois. Prior to that he had several roles including Manager of Drug Utilization Evaluation and Pharmacy Services Manager for Rush Prudential Health Plan in Chicago.
MAXINE GERE, M.S. Ms. Gere is Program Manager, Government Contracts and Medical Editing with TEC; she has been with the program since 1994. Ms. Gere received her Masters in Communication from Northwestern University in 1989 and has also received a core curriculum certificate in biomedical communication from the American Medical Writers Association. Ms. Gere's editorial career has included work with the American College of Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the American Association of Clinical Pathologists, and the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Ophthalmology.
MARK D. GRANT, M.D., M.P.H. Dr. Grant is an Associate Director of TEC; he has been with the program since May 2005. His clinical background includes Geriatric and Family Medicine, and he was previously the Director of Research in the Department of Family Medicine at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. He is board certified in Family Practice and holds a Certificate of Added Qualifications in Geriatric Medicine. He has published in JAMA, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and Annals of Human Biology. Some special interests include epidemiologic methods, treatment and prevention of aging-related diseases. He has taught epidemiology on the graduate level at the University of Illinois and on the undergraduate level at the University of Chicago. Additionally, he is currently pursuing a doctorate in epidemiology at the University of Illinois School of Public Health where he previously obtained his master's degree.
FRANK LEFEVRE, M.D. Dr. Lefevre is a Senior Clinical Consultant with TEC and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, with appointments in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine. Dr. Lefevre has been with TEC since 1991 and is the primary author on more than 30 TEC Assessments in the areas of internal medicine and cardiology. At Northwestern, he works as a hospitalist on the University Service and on the general medicine consultation service. He teaches evidence based medicine and medical decision making to medical students, and has developed a course that he teaches for the Northwestern Masters of Public Health program titled "Technology Assessment: Evidence-based approaches to assessing medical effectiveness." He has published widely in the peer-reviewed literature in the areas of evidence-based systematic reviews, quality of care, and preoperative medical consultation.
DAVID MARK, M.D., M.P.H. Dr. Mark is an Associate Director of TEC; he has been with the program since 1999. He has published several articles on quality of care and outcome assessment. He is also currently a contributing editor at the Journal of the American Medical Association, where he specializes in reviewing and managing manuscripts on statistics, epidemiology, decision and cost-effectiveness analysis, and laboratory medicine. He is board-certified in preventive medicine, and received training in epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley. He was formerly Director of Research in the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He has also served as a consultant to the Wisconsin Peer Review Organization regarding quality of care assessment and the American Medical Association on technology assessment.
KATHLEEN A. OLSEN, B.S. (Pharm), R.Ph. Ms. Olsen is Project Manager, Medical Policy Resources at TEC; she has been in this role with the program since November 2008. Previously, she was Director, Pharmacy Initiatives, TEC. She has more than 20 years’ experience in managed care and other clinical pharmacy practice settings. Her background includes clinical account management for PBMs, pharmacy benefit operations and clinical management for Chicago area health plans, including BlueCross Blue Shield of Illinois, and pharmaceutical company sales and marketing for managed care customers. She is an adjunct professor of Pharmacy Administration at the University of Illinois, College of Pharmacy and has conducted classes on the role of pharmacy in managed care. Ms. Olsen received her Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She has been a member of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) since 1992.
MARGARET PIPER, Ph.D., M.P.H. Dr. Piper is Director, Genomics Resources with TEC; she has been with the program since 1994. While with TEC, Dr. Piper has authored over 25 TEC Assessments and co-authored 4 systematic reviews for AHRQ. Dr. Piper currently serves on the Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention (EGAPP) Working Group, a five-year model project developed by the National Office of Public Health Genomics at the Centers for Disease Control. She has also been an advisor to other CDC efforts, to the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and has presented at recent Institute of Medicine, National Cancer Institute, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality meetings on genetic testing. Dr. Piper has been an active volunteer educator in clinical laboratory medicine; in 2000, she was awarded a distinguished service award by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists Commission on Continuing Education. Dr. Piper obtained her B.S. in molecular biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Ph.D. in immunology at Duke University. Prior to joining TEC, Dr. Piper had 13 years of experience in clinical laboratory medicine. In 1995, she was awarded a Cancer Prevention Fellowship with the National Cancer Institute; during the fellowship she completed an M.P.H. in epidemiology at Emory University and conducted epidemiologic studies in the area of cancer prevention. She was subsequently employed by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and detailed to the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at CDC in Atlanta, GA with a focus on cancer genetics and epidemiology.
THOMAS A. RATKO, Ph.D. Dr. Ratko is a Senior Scientist with TEC, who joined the program in November 2005. He received a B.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Doctorate in Pharmacology from the University of Illinois at Chicago Health Sciences Center. Prior to joining TEC, Dr. Ratko was employed by the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) for nearly 13 years, first as a Senior Research Associate and subsequently as a Manager in the UHC Technology Assessment Group. While at UHC, he authored more than 30 technology assessments, reports, and bulletins covering topics in transfusion medicine, diagnostic imaging, oncology, and cardiology. Before joining the UHC staff, Dr. Ratko was a Senior Scientist in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the American Medical Association (AMA), where he contributed to the AMA compendium, Drug Evaluations and participated as an AMA representative to a number of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Health and Human Services committees. Prior to his joining the AMA staff, Dr. Ratko was a Senior Biologist at the IIT Research Institute in Chicago, where he participated in the conception and execution of National Cancer Institute-funded preclinical studies of a wide variety of candidate cancer chemoprevention compounds in several rodent adenocarcinoma model systems. He has published articles in JAMA, Transfusion, Archives of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Medicine, Cancer Research, Cancer Letters, Anticancer Research, JCOM, and other journals.
BARBARA MAUGER ROTHENBERG, Ph.D. Dr. Mauger Rothenberg is a Senior Scientist with TEC, joining the program in September 2005. She received her PhD in Health Services Research and Health Policy from the University of Rochester, as well as Master's degrees from Stanford and Princeton Universities. She has published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Medical Care, Radiology, Neuroradiology, JACR, and other journals. She was a coeditor and contributor to Assessing the Health Status of Older Adults (Springer Publishing Company, 1997). She worked most recently for the Research Group at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Prior to that position, she was Health Policy Director for Excellus BlueCross BlueShield in Rochester, NY and Director of Quality Assessment for the Rochester Health Commission. She was a research associate at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, working on technology assessment, cost-effectiveness analysis, and health status assessment. She has particular interests in diagnostic imaging, improving quality of care through the use of evidence-based medicine, and racial disparities in health care.
DAVID SAMSON, M.S. Mr. Samson is an Associate Director of TEC; he has been with the program continuously since 1987. He has written nearly 100 TEC Assessments. He has published articles in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Cancer, and Academic Radiology. He has given presentations at the National Cancer Institute and at meetings of the Society for Medical Decision Making and the International Society for Technology Assessment in Health Care. He was a Regents Scholarship recipient and graduated with academic distinction from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He attended Emory University on a fellowship for four years in the clinical psychology doctoral program. Research methods, biostatistics and medical decision-making are among his primary current interests. He is presently pursuing a doctorate in epidemiology at the University at Albany.
KATHLEEN M. ZIEGLER, Pharm.D. Dr. Ziegler is Director, Clinical Science Services with TEC; she has been with the program since 1993. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy. Subsequently, she worked as a Drug Information Analyst on the staff of AHFS Drug Information, where she researched, wrote, and edited evaluative drug monographs. She has co-authored AHRQ evidence reviews and published manuscripts along with other TEC staff in Chest, JACR, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
