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Team

Nazan Aksan, Ph.D.
Senior Biostatistician
Rhonda Aubrey, BSN, MHI,
Co-Director and Lead, Health Business
Nicole Clark, MBA
Lead, Program Launch
Maria Cowley-Morillo, BS
Research Associate

 
 

Julia Guerra, M.Sc.
Research Associate
Deanna Hoelscher, Ph.D., R.D.
Advisor and Co-Investigator
Mini Kahlon, Ph.D.
Director and Founder
Kathryn Kalinowski, BA 
Project Coordinator
 

Lisa Kirsch, MPAff 
Advisor, Policy
Courtney Mulligan, MA
Program Manager
Matt Sither, M.Eng.
Lead Software Engineer
Sandy Valenzuela, M. Ed, Empathy & Health Promotion Lead Caller
Donald E. Wesson, MD, MBA 
Advisor, Chronic Kidney Disease

 


 

Nazan Aksan, Ph.D.
Senior Biostatitician

Nazan is Senior Biostatistician in the Department of Population Health at Dell Medical School, and works on a number of Factor Health programs. Her original training is in Psychology with a graduate minor in Statistics from University of Iowa (BS) and University of Wisconsin-Madison (PhD). Her subject matter expertise ranges from aging related declines (cognitive function, mobility, functional outcomes) in at-risk populations (e.g. sleep-disordered, healthy aging, and neurodegenerative conditions), to childhood obesity, to mental health across childhood. Nazan brings a strong methodological skill set to her work including multivariate statistical techniques, psychometrics, objective measurement methodologies to quantify within and between-person differences. Over the course of 20 years since gaining her PhD, she has enjoyed collaborations with projects that engage her dual expertise in behavioral sciences and methodology. Missions that align with addressing disparities are particularly close to her heart.


 

Rhonda Aubrey, BSN, MHI
Co-Director and Lead, Health Business

Rhonda is Senior Health Business Director for Health Ecosystem at Dell Medical School. Prior to joining Dell Medical School, Rhonda managed a California health care network of eight Federally Qualified Health Centers for over 20 years as Chief Operating Officer of Community Health Center Network, growing from 1,300 to 140,000 covered Medicaid lives. She has developed expertise in cost drivers and motivating factors for health plan partners as well as achieving improved health outcomes by the provider network. Rhonda has a background in both Nursing and Business and holds a Masters in Healthcare Innovation that supports her passion for building new models to address chronic challenges in the health care environment and promote greater health.


 

Nicole Clark, MBA
Lead, Program Launch

Nicole is Director, Strategic Partnerships at the Dell Medical School. She builds strategic partnerships with industry, community and government agencies to strengthen Dell Med translational research and the broader health ecosystem.  She graduated with an MBA from Texas State University. Her previous work includes managing graduate medical education programs.


 

Maria Cowley-Morillo, BS
Research Associate

Maria is a Research Associate at Dell Medical School. Born and raised in Austin, TX, she recently graduated the University of Texas with a BSc in Psychology. As an undergrad, she acquired over four years of research experience, primarily focusing on how to get individuals to play a larger role in their own healthcare. Within Factor Health she has most recently been working on the Social Connection program, which seeks to improve isolation among the elderly population. Through this work she is influencing care for the most vulnerable in our community.


 

Julia Guerra, M.Sc.
Research Associate

Julia has 17 years of experience working in the academic, government and private sectors. She obtained an M.Sc. from Oxford University (U.K.) in Evidence-Based Social Interventions, a certificate in Training for Social Scientists at the Said Business School and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Monterrey.  Julia lived in Mexico, Florida, France and England before moving to Austin. Julia’s role in Factor Health includes supporting the research and operational needs of program launches and conducting data collection.


 

Deanna Hoelscher, Ph.D., R.D.
Advisor and Co-Investigator, Youth Health Program

Deanna M. Hoelscher, Ph.D., R.D., L.D., C.N.S. is the John P. McGovern Professor in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences and founding director of the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living at The University of Texas School of Public Health, Austin Regional Campus. Deanna’s research interests include child and adolescent nutrition, school-based health promotion programs, dietary and physical activity assessment methodology, evaluation of child obesity policies, and dissemination of school health programs.


 

Mini Kahlon, Ph.D.
Director and Founder

Mini is the founding Vice Dean for Health Ecosystem at Dell Medical School, Associate Professor of Population Health and the Director of Factor Health. A behavioral neuroscientist, she trained at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where later, she led efforts to accelerate the translation of research for impact as the Executive Director and Chief Information Officer at the Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI). In addition to leading the Factor Health platform, she supports innovations across Dell Med that deliver health in the landscape of people’s lives integrating this “Healthscape” pillar with the traditional clinical, research and education missions.


Kathryn Kalinowski, BA 
Project Coordinator

Kathryn Kalinowski is the Project Coordinator for Factor Health. She holds a BA in Inernational Relations and Affairs from American University.

 

 


Lisa Kirsch, MPAff

Advisor, Policy

Lisa is the Senior Policy Director for Dell Medical School where she leads health policy research and analysis to support innovations in health care delivery and payment. She holds a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining Dell Med, she worked for more than 13 years at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program policy issues. She also served as the chief deputy Medicaid/CHIP director, where she oversaw the policy department and the development and implementation of the more than $10 billion Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program under Texas’ 1115 health care transformation waiver.


Courtney Mulligan, MA
Program Manager

Courtney is a Program Manager at Dell Medical School. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from The College of New Jersey and a Master’s degree from The University of Sheffield, England. Courtney brings experience in research program coordination and management from positions held at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine and Dell Med’s Department of Population Health. She is an active member of Dell Med’s Culture Council and Diversity, Climate & Engagement Committee. Driven by her commitment to improving health equity in the Austin community, she is excited to support the planning and daily operations for Factor Health’s innovative community-based initiatives and health interventions.


 


Matt Sither, M.Eng.
Lead Software Engineer

Matt Sither is the Lead Software Engineer for Factor Health, where he develops tools and products for various programs. He holds a Master of Engineering from the Massachussets Institue of Technology.

 


Sandy Valenzuela

Empathy & Health Promotion Lead Caller

Sandy is the Empathy & Health Promotion Lead Caller on the Factor Health Team at Dell Medical School. In her role, Sandy leads a team of empathetic callers for the Sunshine Calls Empathy in Action Diabetes Program.

 

 


Donald E. Wesson, MD, MBA
Advisor, Chronic Kidney Disease

Donald Wesson is Professor of Medicine, Texas A&M College of Medicine, Dallas, TX. He is a thought-leader in academic medicine, an internationally recognized researcher in kidney acidifying mechanisms, an expert in community-based interventions, and a long-time advocate for improving the health of communities through focused, data-driven population health initiatives. He has translated insights from his basic science studies to clinical studies that examine the role of nutrition in population health and its kidney-protective benefits. As a part of the Factor Health team, he serves as advisor for Factor Health programs that intervene in chronic kidney disease.


Factor Health Alumni

Allison Marshall, PhD, MPH, MSSW
Research Manager, Youth Health Program

Allison is an instructor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. She served as Research Program Manager on the Factor Health – Youth Health Nutrition Education and Exercise Program. Allison’s background includes social work, public health, and international trade. She has a passion for community-based work using a strengths-based perspective and enjoys research and working with children and families. She has 7 years of experience in health promotion research and is motivated by opportunities to leverage research to inform practice in hopes of working towards a more equitable future.


Katherine Sebastian, RN, MPH
Research Manager

Kate is a research program manager in the Department of Internal Medicine at Dell Medical School. She has over 15 years of experience in clinical research coordination and management, including implementing research interventions in rural and low-income communities.


Primary Sidebar

News

  • May 15, 2024 – Mini Kahlon, PhD, presented an abstract titled “Effect of a Layperson-Delivered Empathy-Focused Telephone Program on Glycemic Management for FQHC Patients With Unmanaged Diabetes: A Randomized Trial,” co-authored with Nazan Aksan, PhD, at the 2024 Society for General Internal Medicine (SGIM) Annual Meeting.
  • Mar 21, 2024 – Mini Kahlon, PhD, published an editorial, Understanding and Intervening in Nutrition-Related Health Disparities, Advances in Nutrition.
  • Dec 8, 2023 – Mini Kahlon speaks on Food as Medicine at the 2023 Annual Texas NMDoH Consortium Conference: Advancing Research, Policy and Practice
  • Oct 10, 2023 – Factor Health Founder, Mini Kahlon, PhD, speaks at  HLTH 2023 on “The Benefits of Being Neighborly“
  • Oct 6, 2023 – ‘Listening for Health’ panel at 2023 Healthier Texas Summit featuring Factor Health team. Agenda | Register
  • July 25, 2023 – Factor Health receives a $300,000 Empowering Health grant from UnitedHealthcare 
  • June 8, 2023 – Virtual Event: Nutrition Incentive Hub’s National Convening virtual panel, Food Meets Medicine: What We Need to Connect Nutrition Security with Healthcare | Register Now
  • June 7, 2023 – Webinar: Food Is Medicine: Program Designs and Strategies in Texas | Register Now 
  • June 6, 2023 – Whitepaper release: Scaling the Impact of Food on Health: Cross-Sectoral Research Opportunities
  • Apr 12, 2023 – Psychiatry Online: Effect of a Layperson-Delivered Telephone Program for People With Depressive Symptoms
  • Mar 8, 2023 – The Other 80 podcast: Building Health Ecosystems with Dr. Mini Kahlon 
  • Feb 15, 2023 – Stat: How ‘empathetic engagement’ can increase access to mental health care
  • Jan 2, 2023 – The New York Times: The 7-Day Happiness Challenge – Day 2: The Secret Power of the 8-Minute Phone Call. 
  • Oct 25, 2022 – Axios Finish Line: Lonely America
  • Sep 15, 2022 – Dell Med Feature Story: A Prescription for Broccoli 
  • July 2022 – El Mundo: Los Niños Deben Comer Más Vegetales/Children Should Eat More Vegetables. 
  • June 2022 – Austin American Statesman: Dell Medical School study: Kids will eat vegetables if they are available.
  • May 2022 -Christensen Institute White Paper: You Are What You Treat. Profiles Factor Health as an innovative business model.
  • May 2022 – Release: Easy, Flexible Access to Produce, Resources Boosts Healthy Eating for Central Texas Kids.  JAMA Network Open Paper.
  • Dec 2021 – The Clayton Christensen Institute: To improve individual lives, a top-down approach won’t work
  • Nov 2021 – Health Affairs Lunch & Learn: The future of health system transformation with Mini Kahlon | Register now
  • May 2021 – AMA | Reflection on results of trial assessing the impact of layperson calls on mental health | Video | Article
  • Spring 2021 – Texas Standard  |  CNN  |  Forbes  | Healthline  |  KXAN  | Scientific American: Empathetic phone calls from laypersons reduce loneliness, depression in older adults
  • Mar 8, 2021 – Scripps National News: Sunshine Calls help improve mood and health
  • Feb 23, 2021 – JAMA Psychiatry: Effect of layperson-delivered, empathy-focused program of telephone calls on loneliness, depression, and anxiety among adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized clinical trial

More News

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