Rich directs a range of projects focusing on evaluation, formative research, and thought leadership on a variety of topics, including HIV and aging, adolescent health, chronic pain, workforce development, and preparedness and response. 

Rich leads the HRSA-funded multi-site evaluation of emerging interventions to improve health outcomes for people aging with HIV. He also oversees the evaluation of public-private partnerships aimed at improving adolescent health in school settings and advancing survey methods to collect novel adolescent health data. Additionally, he directs a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-funded initiative using claims data to predict chronic pain. In collaboration with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) evaluation experts, Rich leads the development of self-directed training and evaluation technical assistance for state health departments. This work strengthens state capacity to implement evidence-based practices and assess public health initiatives effectively.

Prior to joining NORC, Rich worked for over 15 years at the CDC. He spent much of that time in the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) leading evaluations of local and state HIV and chronic disease prevention programs. More recently, he was deputy director of an office in the Office of the Director where he was responsible for overseeing flagship programs and anticipating future policy and population health needs across CDC.

Concurrently, he held the rank of commander with the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps and deployed 17 times. Domestically, he held progressively increasing leadership roles in the field during emergency responses. Globally, he developed a niche as a field epidemiologist with language skills and was often CDC’s only local representative.