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Presenter Biographies
Evaluation Basics for Those That
Think They're Not Evaluators
Barri Burrus, Ph.D., (941) 486-0845, barri@rti.org
Dr. Barri Burrus is a senior research psychologist who has been with RTI for more than 20 years and has more than 25 years of experience designing, implementing, and analyzing evaluation research at the international, national, state, and local levels. Currently, she serves as Project Director to provide evaluation technical assistance to Adolescent Family Life (AFL) demonstration projects. She also serves as Task Leader to provide technical assistance to the 28 states funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity to Prevent Obesity and Other Chronic Diseases along with the population and marketing of the Electronic Toolkit for CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation. She serves as Coordinating Scientist of an evidence-based best practices review on parenting of adolescents that draws on expertise from CDC Divisions and U.S. Community Preventive Services Task Force members. She is in the final stages of completing evaluation and technical assistance activities for the American Legacy Foundation's (Legacy's) "Tobacco Use Cessation and Prevention Initiative," funded in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through its Community Voices initiative. Previously, Dr. Burrus served as Project Director and Associate Project Director for CDC's One Percent Basic Ordering Agreement for Evaluation Design. She has directed numerous other evaluations for CDC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-Indonesia. Dr. Burrus is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at North Carolina State University and periodically serves as a reviewer for such journals as the American Journal of Public Health, Health Education Review, and the National Medical Association Journal.
Olivia Silber Ashley, Dr.P.H. (919) 541-6427, osilber@rti.org
Dr. Olivia Silber Ashley is a Public Health Scientist at RTI International with 17 years of professional experience in program evaluation and etiology research, program management, and direct services related to parenting; adolescent reproductive health behaviors, substance abuse, and violence; and family influences on behavior. She led an assessment of parent involvement strategies in programs serving adolescents for the Office of Population Affairs and leads two projects to design and prepare for a cross-site evaluation of the Adolescent Family Life (AFL) program. In addition, she is conducting randomized experimental evaluations of national programs to prevent adolescent substance use, promote parent-child communication about waiting to have sex, and to prevent and reduce adolescent dating violence. She has previously worked as a program consultant in the North Carolina Division of Maternal and Child Health.
Lisa Lieberman, Ph.D. (845) 638-1619, llhealth@optonline.net
Dr. Lisa Lieberman received her PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan, School of Public Health in 1986. She is a former Assistant Professor in the graduate program of Health Studies at New York University and is currently an adjunct lecturer in the School of Public Health at New York Medical College, in Valhalla, NY. Dr. Lieberman heads Healthy Concepts Research, Inc., her consulting company providing program development, evaluation, research, and grant writing services. Her work in program evaluation spans a wide range of approaches and issues. She was the Principal Investigator of a DHHS-ASPE funded longitudinal study of varying approaches to school-based pregnancy prevention in New York City, and was a co-investigator of a Robert Wood Johnson-funded study of the impact of New York City Public High Schools' condom availability program. Dr. Lieberman is the Senior Evaluation Consultant to Inwood House, a multi-service agency providing prevention and intervention services for pregnant and parenting teens and for at risk teens throughout NYC. Inwood House has been the recipient of both an OAPP abstinence education prevention grant and an OAPP-funded Teen Family Life Care grant. Dr. Lieberman is the evaluator for the St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center Star LO abstinence education and Nitestar pregnancy and HIV prevention programs, using a unique theatre-based model in city schools. Dr. Lieberman is also the Senior Evaluator for the Rockland County Department of Health Comprehensive Tobacco Program and for the Northern Plains Healthy Start program, a multi-state, multi-tribe maternal and child health intervention. She has evaluated the Rockland County Youth Bureau, Bronx AIDS Services and iMentor teen mentoring initiatives. She serves currently as an evaluation consultant to the US Office of Population Affairs, Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs. In addition to her professional work, Dr. Lieberman is very active in her local community. She co-chaired the Rockland County Legislature's Special Committee on Women's Issues, and she is a current school board member and Immediate Past President of the Clarkstown Central School District Board of Education.
Constance M. Wiemann, PhD, (832) 822-0601, cmwieman@TexasChildrensHospital.org
Dr. Constance Wiemann is an Associate Professor with the Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Wiemann's primary research interest has focused on adolescent sexuality, pregnancy and parenting. In 1990 she received her doctorate in Child Development and Family Studies from Purdue University. With funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, she and her colleagues were able to establish and follow a cohort of over 900 adolescent mothers for the first four years after delivery. Outcomes of interest include high-risk sexual behaviors (including inconsistent contraception and STI prevention practices), repeat pregnancy, drug use, depressive symptoms, social support, intimate partner violence, prenatal care, breastfeeding and stigma. Earlier work includes explorations into contraceptive behavior among non pregnant and parenting adolescents attending family planning clinics. Recently, Dr. Wiemann has been part of a longitudinal project evaluating an innovative intervention to promote STI screening among young minority women attending an urban community-based reproductive clinic. Currently, she is also part of an interdisciplinary team developing treatment approaches for obese adolescents. She is leading an investigation into interventions to promote weight loss among severely obese Latina adolescents.
Man-chi Mandy Sha (Mandy), MA, (312) 456-5266, msha@rti.org
Ms. M. Mandy Sha is a Research Survey Methodologist with a wide range of experience designing and conducting social science research. Prior to joining RTI, she was a Survey Research Director at NORC/University of Chicago. Ms. Sha is interested in project management and developing survey methods that improve data quality, reduce survey non-response, and examine interviewer effects. She is a skilled data collector and is experienced with hard-to-reach linguistically-isolated populations and immigrants/refugees in the United States. Ms. Sha has a MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and qualifies for a Transitional Bilingual Certificate for teaching English-Spanish bilingual programs in Illinois public schools. Academically and professionally trained, Ms. Sha is fluent in Spanish and Chinese.
Kimberly Leeks, Ph.D, (770) 234-5024, Kleeks@rti.org
Dr. Leeks is currently a Research Public Health Analyst with Research Triangle Institute International. Prior to joining RTI, Dr. Leeks was employed as a public health fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She brings 8 years of professional experience in public health research addressing a range of public health issues, including women and adolescent health, breast and cervical cancer prevention, and HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection prevention. Specializing in program evaluation and outcome assessment, her work has included developing performance measurement systems, identifying appropriate indicators, and systematic reviews of evidence-based practices. She has experience and extensive training in behavioral science methodology, theory, and evaluation; systematic review methodology; and design, implementation, and evaluation of community-based research.
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