Meet the Team

Meet the Team

Directors

Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, MSW

Washington University in St. Louis

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Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, MSW

Founding Director

As a leading expert and researcher in social and economic mobility, Grinstein-Weiss is an influential voice in the design of behavior-based healthcare interventions and innovative social policies to promote household financial security, both in the United States and internationally.

Saneel Kulkarni, Pharm.D, MBA

Centene Corporation

Saneel Kulkarni, Pharm.D, MBA

Centene Center Director

Saneel is the Director, Centene Center for Health Transformation. He provides strategic leadership and plays an instrumental role in shaping the Center’s research and achieving operational efficiency. He uses his background as a pharmacist and healthcare administrator to inform meaningful research interventions. Saneel is passionate about using a patient-centric, evidence-based, data-driven approach to solve complex problems in healthcare.

Faculty Directors

Mary Acri, PhD

Social Policy Institute, Washington University in St. Louis

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Mary Acri, PhD

Faculty Director

Mary is a Research Associate Professor at the Social Policy Institute. She earned her doctoral degree in clinical social work from New York University, and her dissertation explored barriers to mental health services among poverty-impacted women of color during pregnancy and the postpartum period. She subsequently began a three-year post-doctoral fellowship within the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Her areas of research include developing and testing innovative methods to facilitate detection and outreach among persons experiencing mental health and/or health problems, enhancing service delivery in order to improve provider behavior and clinical outcomes, and quality improvement. Prior to earning her Ph.D., Mary worked at Yale University in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, delivering evidence-based interventions to families of children with disruptive behavior problems and pregnant and postpartum women experiencing depression respectively. She received a dual BA in Psychology and English at the University of Rhode Island, and a minor in Art History.

Matthew Kreuter, PhD, MPH

Health Communications Research Lab, Washington University in St. Louis

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Matthew Kreuter, PhD, MPH

Faculty Director

Matthew Kreuter is a leading national public health expert in the field of health communications. As founder and senior scientist of the Health Communication Research Laboratory, Kreuter has developed and evaluated a wide range of health communications programs to promote health, modify behavior, and prevent and manage disease. His book “Tailoring Health Messages” is the first comprehensive book on tailored health communication.

Kreuter currently serves on the Institute of Medicine’s Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice. Other funders of his work include the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Nursing Research, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Dan Ariely, PhD, MA

Duke University, Center for Advanced Hindsight

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Dan Ariely, PhD, MA

Faculty Director

Dan leads the Duke University effort on incorporating behavioral economics and social science into health-related behavioral modification programs. Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology & Behavioral Economics at Duke University and is dedicated to understanding the forces that influence our behavior in order to help people live more sensible – if not rational – lives.

Research Team

Washington University in St. Louis

Phillip Marotta

School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis

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Phillip Marotta

Assistant Professor

Phillip Marotta’s research examines drivers of health disparities among people with substance use disorders with a focus on the criminal justice system. Dr. Marotta’s research examines factors that heighten the risk of disengaging from treatment, overdose, and HIV infection among people who are re-entering the community from incarceration. Dr. Marotta’s research aims to inform implementation strategies and identify novel interventions to improve the delivery of substance use disorder treatments for people who are involved in the criminal justice system. This includes working with multiple data sources to conduct predictive analysis and simulation modeling to estimate the potential benefits of adopting and scaling up evidence-based and promising interventions. Dr. Marotta’s research extends to redressing disparities in COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and deaths among people with substance use disorders and incarcerated populations.

Amy McQueen, PhD

School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis

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Amy McQueen, PhD

Associate Professor

Amy’s research has focused on understanding how cognitive, psychosocial, and environmental determinants influence health behaviors and testing behavioral interventions to improve health. She is particularly interested in individuals’ biases and defenses that impede their engagement in health behaviors and adherence to recommendations, as well as testing novel strategies for reducing defenses.

Tess Thompson, PhD

School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis

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Tess Thompson, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

Tess Thompson’s research examines how the social context affects health in cancer prevention and control. Her work includes three main strands: the effects of family on health, the importance of social support, and the role of health communication in reducing disparities.

Duke University

Catherine Berman

Duke University, Center for Advanced Hindsight

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Catherine Berman

Behavioral Researcher

Catherine J. Berman leads the Center’s vaccination behavior research and studies chronic disease management, preventive health behavior, and purpose and meaning in life. Catherine graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota and is applying to Ph.D. programs to continue a career in basic and applied research. She is passionate about using research collaborations to contribute tangible, equitable improvements in the world.

Jenna Clark, PhD

Duke University, Center for Advanced Hindsight

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Jenna Clark, PhD

Senior Behavioral Scientist

Jenna Clark works to help people make healthy decisions in spite of themselves. She’s also interested in how technology contributes to our well-being through its effect on our close personal relationships. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology.

Jon Cloughesy

Duke University, Center for Advanced Hindsight

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Jon Cloughesy

Behavioral Researcher

Jon Cloughesy graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara where he studied Biopsychology and Applied Psychology. Jon specializes in using the power of social forces to improve health. He is passionate about behavioral science and aspires to help build a healthier, happier world for us all.

Jamie Foehl

Duke University, Center for Advanced Hindsight

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Jamie Foehl

Senior Behavioral Researcher

Jamie Foehl is a ten-year veteran of the lab and brings her expertise to a variety of lab endeavors including working with The Common Cents Lab, a sub-lab committed to financial health. Jamie joined the health team in mid-March 2020 and her work focuses on health behaviors as they relate to COVID-19. Prior to joining the lab, Jamie worked in the advertising industry at top agencies in NYC and Minneapolis, such as Fallon. Jamie graduated from Carleton College.

Jan Willem Lindemans, PhD

Duke University, Center for Advanced Hindsight

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Jan Willem Lindemans, PhD

Principal, Global Health and Development

Jan Willem Lindemans’ research covers a wide range of health behaviors: from lifestyle, vaccination, and self-care to the personal finance of health. He has extensively collaborated with partners in the healthcare industry, global health, and health tech. Before arriving at Duke, he was a postdoctoral researcher and founding co-director of the Penn Social Norms group at the University of Pennsylvania.

Becky Reeves, PhD

Duke University, Center for Advanced Hindsight

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Becky Reeves, PhD

Senior Behavioral Researcher

Becky completed her Master’s in Psychology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2007, a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Kentucky in 2011, and a two-year post-doctorate fellowship at Tufts University in 2016. Her research interests involve decision-making under uncertainty, social support, and cognitive and emotional barriers to successful behavior change.

Shanta Ricks, MA

Duke University, Center for Advanced Hindsight

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Shanta Ricks, MA

Behavioral Researcher

Shanta Ricks received her Master of Arts in Psychology from North Carolina Central University in December 2018. She now works within the Common Cents and Health team lab. Her research interests include exploring and understanding the psychological mechanisms that promote pro-health and good financial behaviors.

Core Staff

Emily Luft, MSW

Centene Corporation

Emily Luft, MSW

Centene Center Project Manager

Emily is the Project Manager for the Centene Center for Health Transformation. Emily is dedicated to improving community health through innovative research and people-centered decision making. With her multi-disciplinary expertise in social work, organizational change management, and program management, Emily helps the Center’s partners problem-solve towards solutions that better the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

Brendan Kinnison, MBA

Centene Corporation

Brendan Kinnison, MBA

Centene Center Data Analyst

Brendan is the Data Analyst for the Centene Center for Health Transformation. He wields expertise in clinical outcomes & study design, predictive analytics, data warehousing & mining, and Centene systems. Through this technical expertise and a business operations background, he strives to promote the usage of data-driven, evidence-based decisions to improve research and influence positive health outcomes.

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