Alexandra’s research focuses on health economics, behavioral health, and drug policy, with a particular emphasis on cannabis regulation and health outcomes. At NORC, she conducts evaluations and policy analyses, applying expertise in econometrics, health outcomes research, and program evaluation. She leads quantitative research efforts, contributes to mixed-methods projects, and integrates diverse data sources to develop evidence-based insights that inform public health and policy decisions. With extensive experience in observational studies, large dataset analysis, and protocol development, she plays a key role in developing policy briefs, technical reports, and peer-reviewed publications.

Alexandra leads the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum’s medical cannabis policy brief, assessing state regulations, best practices, and policy considerations.  She directs the quantitative analysis for the Vermont Global Commitment to Health Demonstration Evaluation, focusing on services for substance use disorder (SUD), serious mental illness (SMI), and serious emotional disturbance (SED). She is also involved in the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN), where she investigates cannabis use patterns and their implications for behavioral health. Additionally, she contributes to the ACO REACH Model evaluation, analyzing health equity impacts and care transformation strategies for Medicare beneficiaries. Across these projects, her expertise in research design and implementation allows her to produce data-driven insights that inform policy and health care strategies.

Before joining NORC, Alexandra was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics and a fellow at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). She has worked on National of Health (NIH)-funded research in cannabis policy, opioid treatment, and payment reform. Her work has been published in journals such as JAMA Open, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Substance Abuse and Misuse, and Clinical Therapeutics. She has presented at multiple national and international conferences and contributed to state policy briefs and legislative reports on behavioral health, drug regulation, and health system reform.

Alexandra has conducted extensive research on cannabis use. Her notable work in Clinical Therapeutics (2024) analyzed medical cannabis dosing trajectories using sales data, while a study in Substance Use & Misuse (2024) explored the simultaneous use of cannabis and alcohol among medical patients. In JAMA Network Open (2022), she characterized medical cannabis products in New York State. Another study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2023) examined cannabis use trajectories during the pandemic. Alexandra also contributed to studies on marijuana laws and youth usage (2021) and vaping among U.S. youth (2021), and co-authored a white paper on cannabis regulation (2022).