I have extensive training and experience in spatial analysis with point and areal data, multilevel and spatial regression analysis and modeling, survey development and implementation, continuous quality improvement using data driven approaches especially utilizing a Results-based Accountability framework, interactive data dashboard design and development, environmental prevention and health promotion strategies, and Higher Education Anchor Mission analytics.
Throughout my career I have worked in applied and translational research projects directed at addressing health behavior, population health and inequity within the broader context of social determinants and complex systems. Since finishing my PhD, I have served as a principal grant writer for over $3.5 million in funding for community research projects, with over $2 million of this as an investigator, and I have worked to bring these resources to bear on the health and social disparities facing my community in Buffalo, NY.
My initial academic training was in Economics, which helped to develop my quantitative skills and understanding of models of human behavior under constraints. I completed my PhD in Geography at the University at Buffalo, studying under Jared Aldstadt and Peter Rogerson. I have spent over 16 years working in a series of positions of increasing responsibility at the Institute for Community Health Promotion at Buffalo State College, the majority of it under the direction of William Wieczorek (now with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation).
Outside of my work, I enjoy a variety of hobbies (too many probably): spending time with my wife and children, paddling, hiking, biking, skiing, snowboarding, playing soccer, birding, home improvements, and listening to a music, among many other things. Over the past few years, I have developed a deep love of baking, especially bread, and have worked to improve my output and share it with my friends and neighbors. This hobby began relatively innocently with an effort to recreate a German sweetbread made by my Oma that I loved as a child (hefekranz) and has blossomed into an extremely tasty and satisfying activity. I also have a twin brother Jeff who’s a computer scientist and robotics expert living in Switzerland.
