Desirae is a research scientist in the Health Sciences department at NORC. She is a mixed-methods researcher with 10 years of research experience, skilled in causal inference methods; comparative effectiveness research; survey development, deployment, and analysis; program monitoring and evaluation; qualitative interviews; and project management.

Desirae has worked on implementation science and evaluation projects focusing on patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and maternal health. Recently, she contributed to the Health Resources and Services Administration’s evaluation efforts of the state maternal health innovation programs by analyzing qualitative data from interviews with program officers and awardees, developing and disseminating surveys to awardees, and synthesizing evaluation data to author chapters of a report. Additionally, she supported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in developing an evaluation plan for the Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE MM) initiative. Desirae serves as project manager for multiple projects, including the National Center of Excellence for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Data, which aims to support the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation’s federal efforts to improve PCOR data infrastructure.

Before joining NORC, Desirae was a senior consultant supporting the Veterans Health Administration, where she led a team of policy analysts and contributed to the development, review, and analysis of more than 100 national policies, including those on primary care, patient safety, research ethics, and opioid stewardship. She developed tools and processes to strengthen partner engagement and improve transparency in the policy development process. Additionally, she was a consultant at the Lewin Group supporting the Office of Head Start, where she led site visits, qualitative data analysis, tested monitoring protocols, and trained staff in data collection methods. She developed processes for collaborating with technology partners on data collection systems.