Sarah is a principal research scientist with nearly 20 years of mixed-methods research and evaluation experience with a focus on qualitative methods.  Although her evaluation work has covered many topics she is increasingly interested in environmental health—including the impact of climate change on human health and how to better assess disaster mortality—and sexual and reproductive health— with an emphasis on contraceptive equity and access to healthcare services.

Sarah currently leads NORC’s disaster mortality work including a large cross-center project for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducting evaluation and research activities aimed at improving processes for identifying and reporting disaster-related deaths. This project builds on the work she led for CDC developing a toolkit and accompanying training for medicolegal death investigators to collect data after natural disaster and extreme weather events.  Redman’s other work in this area includes a rapid needs assessment to understand public health workforce needs after disasters; an examination of disability-inclusive disaster and emergency preparedness; an environmental scan on the differential impact of climate change on underserved populations; a review of publicly available environmental health data sources; and a needs assessment of existing climate and health trainings for public health departments.

Sarah currently oversees provision of evaluation technical assistance for HHS Office of Minority Health grant recipients implementing strategies to reduce health disparities but also works directly with organizations as their local evaluation partner. She is currently leading a four-year evaluation of Illinois Contraceptive Access Now (ICAN!)—a statewide initiative to advance reproductive health equity by improving the quality and coverage of contraceptive care at community health centers. Sarah also led the local evaluation of the Chicago Department of Public Health’s Chicago Healthy Adolescents and Teens (CHAT) program—a school-based sexual health education and sexually transmitted infection testing curriculum.

Prior to joining NORC, Sarah worked as a qualitative analyst on the Chicago Health, Environmental Exposure, and Recreation Study (CHEERS), where she examined the best ways to communicate with local Chicago waterway users about water quality and safety and an evaluation consultant with the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health.