Staff
We’re a small team that makes a big impact.
Kelsey Burke, MPH
Senior Researcher
Ms. Burke is a Senior Researcher at HCCI. She has over 10 years of experience utilizing large datasets to inform business decisions in the healthcare sector. Kelsey started her career as a management consultant working with health plans. After receiving her MPH, she worked for NYC Health & Hospitals’ Correctional Health Division where she performed research on health outcomes of incarcerated patients in New York. Prior to HCCI, Kelsey managed a team of data analysts for a self-insured health plan where utilization and cost trends were closely examined in an effort to maintain costs while providing quality care to 200,000 union members in the New York City metro area.
Kelsey received her BA in Economics from the University of Notre Dame and her MPH in Epidemiology from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Outside of work, Kelsey enjoys running, hiking, and cycling. She’s probably planning her next race or trip right now!
Paris Carter, PMP
Project Manager
Ms. Carter is a Project Manager at HCCI, where she strengthens client engagement and operational delivery across the organization’s research and data programs. She partners with internal teams and external stakeholders to align priorities, streamline processes, and help ensure HCCI’s work translates into meaningful outcomes for the research community. Before joining HCCI, Paris supported federal operations programs through the U.S. General Services Administration. Her background in healthcare includes maternal-child health, oncology, orthopedics, and first responder care.
Paris holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Western Governors University and is a certified Project Management Professional.
Outside of work, she enjoys art, traveling, gardening, and spending time with loved ones.
Jessica Chang, Ph.D
Associate Director of Research
Dr. Chang works on HCCI’s data infrastructure efforts and focuses on flagship products, such as the Health Care Cost and Utilization Report. An expert in commercial claims, her research interests focus on health care competition, health policy, and behavioral economics. Prior to HCCI, Jessica worked at OptumLabs as a senior analyst, where she worked on research projects and programmed analytical datasets from a large administrative claims data warehouse. She has published numerous peer-reviewed papers on 340B, commercial prices, and physician-administered drugs.
Jessica received her BAs in Economics and International Relations and an MA in Economics from Boston University. She received her PhD in Health Services Research, Policy and Administration with a concentration in Economics at University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
A native of Honolulu, Jessica enjoys her annual winter trips home to escape the winters on the mainland. She enjoys biking, traveling and cooking.
Catalina Desouza, MPH
Research Associate
Ms. Desouza assists senior members in conducting timely health policy research, as well as supporting claims data analysis while on the predoctoral track.
She has been involved in public health for over 4 years and has held multiple internships advocating for the health of women, children, and families. This includes experiences ranging from areas such as health policy at Nemours Children’s Health to evidence and implementation at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP). Her interests include reproductive justice, harm reduction, and health equity.
Catalina received both her BS and MPH from the George Washington University.
In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, weightlifting, and watching hockey.
Lisa Fleisher, PhD, MPH
Executive Vice President
Dr. Fleisher is a strategic partner to HCCI’s CEO, working to translate organizational vision into actionable objectives.
With 20 years of experience in health financing, Dr. Fleisher’s work focuses on the intersection of research and policy to strengthen how health systems work for the people who use them. Prior to joining HCCI, and as the Chief of the Health Financing and Economics Branch in USAID’s Office of HIV/AIDS, she provided strategic and technical leadership to strengthen health financing for universal health coverage. Throughout her career, Dr. Fleisher has provided health financing policy advisory services, distilling complex information in an easily digestible manner and basing decisions and actions on sound analytics.
Dr. Fleisher received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University. She received her PhD in Health Policy and Management and her Master’s in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Outside of work, Dr. Fleisher enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time outside in her garden.
Chris Frenier, PhD
Senior Researcher
Dr. Frenier is a Senior Researcher at HCCI. He has over a decade of experience using large claims and enrollment datasets to conduct research on health care use, pricing, and competition. His prior work focused on enrollment patterns, utilization, and competition in the Medicaid program and how Medicaid managed care policies affect access and quality for adults and children in the program. Before joining HCCI, Chris was a Senior Analyst at Abt Global, where he conducted evaluations of Medicaid care delivery models in partnership with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at CMS. He also has research experience at the Health Economics Program at the Minnesota Department of Health, where he used the Minnesota All Payer Claims Database to study interactions between the commercial insurance and Medicaid managed care sectors.
Chris received his BA in Economics and Philosophy from Marquette University and his PhD in Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration with a concentration in Health Economics from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale School of Public Health.
Chris enjoys cross-country skiing, trail running, and going to the movies. He spends much of the winter traveling to community ski races around the upper Midwest.
John Hargraves, MPP
Director of Data Strategy
Mr. Hargraves oversees HCCI’s multi-payer commercial claims dataset. An expert in commercial claims, he is responsible for developing and implementing HCCI’s data infrastructure strategy, including the architecture of the HCCI dataset. He also oversees the organization’s data privacy, security, and de-identification activities. His research focuses on the impact of policy and regulatory changes on health care spending and service use, and he often collaborates with media outlets to help tell stories with data. Prior to joining HCCI, Mr. Hargraves worked as a researcher at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services studying geographic variation, chronic conditions, and hospice using Medicare claims data.
John received his BS in Economics from Binghamton University and his MPP with a concentration in Program Evaluation from the George Washington University.
John is an avid outdoorsman, comic convention nerd, and TV enthusiast.
Daniel Kurowski, MPH
Senior Advisor
Mr. Kurowski has nearly 20 years of experience in health care data analytics across the government and non-profit sectors; his work focuses on bringing meaningful information on health care utilization and disease burden to public health, health care providers, and health policy decision makers. Daniel has returned to HCCI, having helped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on their data modernization effort as the Branch Chief of the National Syndromic Surveillance Program in the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology.
Daniel received his MPH in health policy from the Boston University School of Public Health and a BS in human biology and a BA in history from the University of California, San Diego.
A true native of southern California, Daniel enjoys spending time at the beach, hiking, and going to Dodgers games whenever the schedule permits.
Katie Martin, MPA
CEO | President
Ms. Martin has been working in health policy for more than 20 years, mostly at the intersection of research and policy. She has been the President and CEO of the Health Care Cost Institute since 2022 where she combines her expertise in research, policy, distilling complex information, and problem solving. She sets HCCI’s strategic direction across four areas of focus: licensing HCCI’s best-in-class multi-payer claims dataset to academic and policy researchers, producing impactful research products that shape health policy, promoting systemic transparency, and conducting timely, relevant government data analysis.
Before joining HCCI, Ms. Martin was the Vice President for Health Policy and Programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families. A passionate public servant, Ms. Martin served nearly 15 years in the federal government at both the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Health and Human Services, where she served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. With a Bachelors Degree in Economics from William Smith College and a Masters Degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, she now resides in Virginia with her husband and son.
Tanya Natwick
Associate Director of Data Strategy
Ms. Natwick supports projects across HCCI with a focus on operations and management of HCCI’s data products and data analytics. With experience in commercial, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Fee-For-Service and Medicaid claims data, she is interested in health economics and outcomes research, maternal health, and price transparency. Prior to HCCI, Tanya worked at OptumLabs as a lead research analyst where she supported research projects and programmed analytical datasets from a large administrative claims data warehouse. Previously, she was a biostatistician for the Chronic Disease Research Group.
Tanya received her BA in chemistry and mathematics with a concentration in statistics from Saint Olaf College.
Outside of work, Tanya likes hiking and eating pizza with her husband and dogs. She also enjoys spending time outside gardening with her chickens.
Linsay Sarfo
Associate
Ms. Sarfo is an Associate at HCCI, where she supports senior researchers with programming, data visualization, and translating data into insights. She also leads communication efforts and assists with organizational operations. Prior to this position, she served as a research assistant where she worked with external researchers to license HCCI data and supported each stage of the research process. She has over four years of public health research experience.
Linsay graduated from American University with a BA in public health. Her interest includes women’s health, health equity, and health care affordability
In her free time, Linsay enjoys traveling, painting, and trying out new restaurants.
Bianca Silva Gordon, MPH
Senior Researcher
Ms. Silva Gordon supports research projects across HCCI, leading flagship projects such as the Health Care Vitals and Health Care Landscape websites. Prior to HCCI, Bianca worked at the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program as a project assistant. She also served a year with AmeriCorps and worked at Epic Systems where she assisted large health care organizations in managing their electronic health record systems.
Bianca received her BS from Cornell University in Biology and Society and her MPH from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In her free time, Bianca enjoys roller skating, experimenting in the kitchen, and spending time with her dog, Frannie.
Chelsea Smith
Senior Operations Manager
Ms. Smith is responsible for increasing the efficiency of HCCI’s organizational policies and procedures to enhance internal capacity and improve resource allocation. Prior to joining HCCI, Chelsea managed design studio operations, event operations and was a project manager and client experience specialist for businesses offering premium goods and services. Her varied and extensive history with boutique owner-operator and family-owned businesses has given her a unique perspective on how to build productive systems for small teams with high output. Chelsea studied interior design at Mount Ida College, School of Design, which is now UMass Amherst. After many years supporting the design and sales industries, her desire to pivot into mission-driven services for the public good led her to HCCI.
She is an avid reader, a skilled calligrapher, and an event stylist with a passion for functional, organized, and curated home design.