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Catherine H. Saunders, PhD, MPH

Principal Investigator | Principal Scientist

I am a health services researcher interested in empowering patients and their care partners to advocate for their own needs and preferences. I am particularly interested in improving experiences for people with serious illnesses and older adults. I believe that research projects – and health care services – are better when patients and their families are included, so I have a particular interest in participatory research. I love teaching and mentoring, as well as collaborating with colleagues across Dartmouth, the U.S., and the world. My program of research in healthcare experience has three pillars. First, I study ways patients and care partners can self-advocate with clinical visit agenda setting, the practice of determining and prioritizing conversation topics. Second, I study measurement of serious illness experience. And third, I study and teach innovative ways to do participatory research, particularly qualitative research. As a mixed methods scientist, I let the research questions drive the approaches. I live in a cabin in the woods in Vermont with my husband and two young children. And I wrote my doctoral dissertation while watching Battlestar Galactica. Read more.

Ailyn Sierpe, MSc

Research Project Coordinator | PhD Candidate

As a Research Project Coordinator at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, I work on a variety of projects exploring vaccine hesitancy, clinical agenda-setting, and shared decision-making. My research interests include participatory research methods, family planning, and online communities. In my years of close collaboration with Dr. Saunders, we developed Practical Thematic Analysis, an accessible approach to participatory qualitative analysis designed specifically for health services research teams with mixed levels of experience. Before coming to TDI, I worked as a crime and policing Researcher at the National Centre for Social Research in London. I received an MSc in Social Research Methods from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and hope to continue working with innovative quantitative and qualitative methods as part of the HEx Lab. When not doing research, I like cooking and listening to 80s electro-industrial at inadvisably high volumes.

Annie Dade, MPP

Project Manager | Research Associate

I am a qualitative researcher and creative program coordinator with a passion for palliative and end of life care. I am most interested in participatory research that collaborates with patients, care partners, and healthcare providers to enhance patient experience and elevate their voices in care. Before joining Hex Lab, I worked in policy research and programming across the life spectrum including reproductive healthcare and early childhood care and education. I hold a Master’s in Public Policy from University of California, Berkeley where I focused on qualitative and community-based participatory research in education and public health. I am also a trained end of life doula and hospice volunteer, and bring a heart-centered and grounding approach to my work. Outside of work, you’ll often find me hiking with my dog, or hosting dinner parties.

Hannah Crowe-Cumella, MSW

Research Coordinator

I’m a researcher with a background in neuroscience, behavioral science, and social work. My past experience involves working with patients facing psychosocial and substance use disorders, and more recently, with older adults managing chronic diseases. I bring a multitude of different experiences and perspectives to my work so I can help provide the best care, treatment, and advocacy for those who can’t always advocate for themselves.

I hold a Master’s in Social Work from Salem State University. My primary interests lie in working with older adults, especially in neurological diseases, serious mental illness, and chronic conditions. I hope to go on and pursue a PhD so I can support clinical trials that improve lives for older adults with chronic illnesses.

I really value how much HExLab fosters community and collaborates with other researcher, embracing the different perspectives and backgrounds. When I’m not working, you’ll probably find me working out, trying out new food spots, playing basketball, or exploring nature with my pup, Kiwi.

Joseph P. Nano, MS, MPH

Lab Manager

I joined our Healthcare Experience Lab as a student research assistant in 2022, during my graduate studies (dual MS-MPH degrees) at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. In 2024, I became a clinical research coordinator and I collaborated with colleagues from the Dartmouth Master of Public Health program on validating our consideRATE tool at both the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Cancer Center and the Nephrology Center. In 2025, in my new role a lab manager, I enjoy working with colleagues and students from the Dartmouth Healthcare Experience Lab on various research projects, while also continuing my education as a student scholar at Harvard Medical School. Given that heart disease is the leading cause of death both in the United States and worldwide, my goal is to use the quantitative and qualitative research skills I develop on my path to becoming a physician-scientist (holder of dual MD-PhD degrees) to develop innovative ways to change that. My research interests include chronic illness, cardiovascular disease, and mental health. In my free time, I enjoy painting, playing the piano, writing poetry, running, and spending time with my family.

Annika Milliman

Undergraduate Student | Middlebury College

As a Student Research Assistant for the HEx Lab, I work under Dr. Saunders and help with research on a variety of projects within the lab. I am specifically interested in researching how to better facilitate the patient-provider relationship and make medical settings more accessible and less intimidating to patients. Following my graduation from Middlebury College next year, I hope to pursue a higher degree and career in clinical ethics or healthcare policy. When I’m not in class or studying, I can be found mountain biking or perfecting my banana bread recipe.

Claire E. Alford

MPH Candidate

I am a HEx Linkages Scholar and an MPH student here at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. I graduated from Santa Clara University in 2025 with a B.S. in Public Health Science. As an undergraduate, I was a part of the Wheeler Laboratory studying nanoparticles. I also engaged in nanotechnology research in the Giraldo Laboratory (UC Riverside, NSF CSN SURE) and basic science research in the Feinberg Laboratory (Harvard Medical School, Four Directions Summer Research Program). In the HEx Lab, I am looking forward to transitioning from my wet laboratory experience to clinical research. I hope to become a physician-researcher who makes care more accessible and culturally competent for Indigenous and underserved communities, reflecting my Absentee Shawnee and Mexican heritage.

Ellie Cady

Undergraduate Student | Middlebury College

I am a HEx Lab Undergraduate Clinical Research Linkages Scholar from Middlebury College where I am studying psychology with a minor in global health. At the HEx Lab, I will be assisting with analyzing qualitative interviews and developing an agenda-setting intervention for patients with chronic kidney disease. My research interests include increasing patient access to healthcare services, improving patient quality of care, and reducing the financial burdens that patients face in receiving care. I am excited to work with Dr. Saunders and the HEx Lab Team to better understand patient needs in order to improve their experience of care. Outside of my academics, I enjoy running, open water swimming, exploring new coffee shops and playing with my 140 pound Bernadoodle!

Gabriela Sanders

MD Candidate

I am a HEx Linkages Scholar and a first-year medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. I have experience as a clinical research coordinator doing implementation science work at Mass General. Additionally, I worked as a healthcare consultant before I decided to transition to clinical medicine. I am excited to learn more about the patient experience, particularly for people with advanced CKD. I think my time in the HEx Lab will ultimately enrich my clinical practice. I graduated from Middlebury College in 2019 – 10 years after the HEx Lab PI! Go Midd!

Ishaan Kumar, MPH

MD Candidate | Dartmouth Student Alum

Ishaan is a first-year medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. He was a HEx Linkages Scholar and completed his MPH at Dartmouth. He graduated from Penn State University in 2024. His interests lie at the intersection of public health, health policy, and clinical practice, with a particular focus on addressing structural challenges within the healthcare system. Through his work with the HEx Lab, he is especially interested in advancing ways to better incorporate patient preferences into medical decision-making and improve healthcare experiences.

Inaya R. Hasan

MD Candidate

Hi there! I am a first year medical student at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and I am super excited to be working with the HEx Lab. Prior to matriculating to medical school, I graduated with a degree in biology and religious studies from the University of Virginia (Go Hoos!) It was there that I discovered my passion for qualitative research. Through my previous work examining the barriers faced by Arab Female International Medical Graduates, I gained experience in qualitative study design, data collection, and thematic analysis, while also developing a deeper appreciation for the systemic inequities that influence trajectories in healthcare. I am eager to learn more about how to better the system for patients and providers alike

Madison Spivak

MD Candidate

I am a HEx Linkages Scholar and second-year medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. I graduated from Dartmouth College in 2024 with a major in Anthropology, where my research experiences ranged from quantitative data analysis in the Earth Sciences department to coordinating human-subjects studies at the Thayer School of Engineering. As a member of the HEx Lab, I work primarily with Dr. MacMartin studying communication in palliative care, which has allowed me to deepen my qualitative research skills and explore a clinical area I care deeply about. Looking ahead, I hope to care for patients living with chronic conditions using a holistic, person-centered approach that emphasizes quality of life and values-based decision-making.

Nihan Z. Ercanli

MD Candidate

I am a second-year MD candidate at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. I completed my undergraduate at Cornell University with a major in Human Biology, Health, and Society, with minors in Law and Society and Data Science. My interests lie at the intersection of public health, clinical practice, and the patient experience. Through the HEx Lab, I am excited to explore innovative ways to address the barriers that shape healthcare delivery in order to improve patient outcomes. In my free time, I enjoy reading, crocheting, traveling, and spending time outside.

Pooja Patel

MPH Candidate

I am a HEx Lab Research Intern and MPH student at Dartmouth College. At the HEx Lab, I will support analyzing qualitative data analysis as well as research and writing across projects in the lab. I would like to focus on improving healthcare experiences for people with serious illnesses after working with underserved and elderly patients in the DC metropolitan area. My passion is in mitigating chronic neurological conditions and reducing health disparities through improved health literacy, patient-centered care, and innovative solutions. Outside of research, I love to read detective fiction, listen to music, hike, and beach.

Mathew M. Wilson, MD

Dartmouth Health

I am a palliative care physician, leader, and researcher. My professional interests include communication skills education, quality improvement, and development of tools and processes that facilitate the co- production of health care between people living with serious illnesses, their care partners, and palliative care clinicians. Examples of this include collaborative work on: (1) development and implementation of a pre-visit questionnaire including agenda setting questions and patient-reported outcomes for use in ambulatory palliative care visits. (2) creation of ConnectShareCare, an online forum for active and bereaved care partners of people living with serious illness. (3) creation of dashboards to monitor and assess the impact of operational changes on access to palliative care, interdisciplinary care, and Serious Illness Conversation documentation. My goal is to create a learning health system in palliative care that will facilitate continuous improvement in care and experience of healthcare. Through extensive collaboration with members of HEx Lab, Dartmouth Institute, the Dartmouth Health Analytics Institute and Value Institute, I am creating a palliative care registry and data management system to facilitate quality improvement and research. I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and am the son of a minister, teacher, and social worker. My wife and I have two young children. I enjoy being outside any time of year, reading, personal finance, and spiritual exploration.

Meredith A. MacMartin, MD, MS, FAAHPM

Dartmouth Health | The Dartmouth Institute

I am a palliative care physician and researcher committed to improving the experience of serious illness care for both patients, and the healthcare teams caring for them. My primary research interest is in how palliative care teams support patients, their care partners, and their medical teams, in making complex decisions. Clinically, I see patients as a palliative care consultant in the hospital and in our free-standing palliative and hospice care unit where I also serve as medical director. I believe in the power of interdisciplinary care, and interdisciplinary research — we are all better off when we bring different perspectives, skills, and experiences to bear on our common work. Although I do love spreadsheets, qualitative research has been my primary methodology as I find that there is no substitute for talking to those engaged in the work or receiving the care we are trying to improve! I am a native of New Hampshire, and find great meaning in serving my home community. I live in an old house with my husband, three children, and three dogs, and in my “spare time” I love being outside (running, hiking, skiing), reading, and crafting.

Garrett T. Wasp, MD, MPH

Dartmouth Health | The Dartmouth Institute

I am a practicing medical oncologist and health services researcher studying how patients and clinicians communicate and make decisions about cancer treatment and end-of-life care. My overarching career goal is to design and implement flexible communication tools and processes that promote more effective shared decision making. My approach is novel as I use insights from emotion regulation and behavior change theory to better understand and positively influence medical decision making related to cancer treatment and end-of-life care.

Outside of work, I love to ski, and hike. I have lived in the upper valley now for more than ten years. I’m from Buffalo, NY originally. I have two school-age children which is how I spent most my time outside of work.

Anji Zhu, MPH

Predoctoral Fellow & Dartmouth Student Alum

I an an MPH graduate and predoctoral fellow alum of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. I was involved in the consideRATE project and contributed to scale development. I am leading a study focused on translating the consideRATE questions into Mandarin and validating this translated measure.  My research interests include shared decision-making between patients and healthcare providers, decision support tools, and facilitating transitions for vulnerable populations across sectors and organizations. Outside of research, I enjoy exploring diverse cuisines and attempting to recreate them at home.

Arshi Parvez, MD

Dartmouth Health

I am a practicing hospitalist physician at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center with aspirations to become a health services researcher. My research interests focus on improving patient outcomes through enhanced communication, decision-making processes, and care delivery systems. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family and traveling. I live in the Upper Valley with my husband and our 9-month-old baby, who is quickly approaching toddlerhood!

Christine Gunn, PhD

Dartmouth Health | Geisel School of Medicine

Christine is an assistant professor of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. She also serves as the health equity liaison to the Community Outreach and Engagement Program of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.

She has extensive experience in qualitative research methods, surveys, and mixed methods approaches and has a special interest in creating interventions to improve health literacy to promote engagement in health decision-making. Gunn has received national attention for documenting how state-level dense breasts notification policies do not meet population literacy needs, and the impact they have on both patients and providers.

Ella Harper-Schiehl, MPH

Dartmouth Student Alum

I completed my Master’s of Public Health degree in 2024, and am hoping to work with rural underserved populations on promoting access to healthcare and other fundamental human needs. In the HEx lab, I have been studying agenda setting practices in serious illness and older adult contexts. I bring a lived history of complex chronic illness to this work, and that experience has been an important personal driver for these projects. Outside of school work and research projects, I spend my free time knitting, puzzling, and keeping my cat from destroying my yarn and in-progress puzzles.

Gabrielle Stevens, PhD

The Dartmouth Institue

Gabrielle joined The Dartmouth Institute in 2015, after completing a Bachelor of Psychological Science with Honors and a PhD in Health Psychology, at The University of Queensland, Australia.Gabrielle’s prior research primarily explored women’s decision-making in maternity care. In particular, she has conducted research identifying women’s maternity care decision support needs and factors that influence their preferences for care, and has explored and developed strategies to better facilitate women’s informed involvement in maternity care decisions.In her current role as Research Project Coordinator at TDI, Gabrielle is engaged in a variety of projects exploring shared decision-making, overtreatment, and care integration from the patient perspective, both within and beyond the maternity care context.

Glyn Elwyn, MD, PhD, MSc

Dartmouth Health | Geisel School of Medicine

Dr. Elwyn is a professor and physician-scientist at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice where he directs the Patient Engagement Research Program and leads The Preference Laboratory, an international interdisciplinary team. Read more.

JoAnna K. Leyenaar, MD, PhD, MPH, MSc

Dartmouth Health | Geisel School of Medicine

A pediatrician and health services researcher, Dr. JoAnna Leyenaar’s work is focused on improving the quality of healthcare provided to children, particularly those who are vulnerable and underserved. In her clinical role, Dr. Leyenaar works as a pediatric hospitalist and Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Pediatrics at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Dr. Leyenaar’s main areas of research interest include: care coordination for children with chronic illnesses, urban-rural disparities in healthcare quality, hospital-to-home transitions, integration of mental and behavioral healthcare in pediatrics, and care of opioid-exposed infants. She is currently receiving funding from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of direct admission to hospital as an alternative to admission through emergency departments.

Kathryn Kirkland, MD, FAAHP

Dartmouth Health | Geisel School of Medicine

I am a professor of medicine and of health policy and clinical practice and hold the Dorothy and John J. Byrne, Jr. Distinguished Chair in palliative medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine. I serve as section chief and director of palliative care at Dartmouth Health. My interests include the preparation of clinicians for the co-design and delivery of empathic, effective healthcare and in the facilitation of joy in work. I am actively involved in the Promise Partnership, a collaboration between The Dartmouth Institute, Dartmouth Health, and the Dartmouth Cancer Center designed to create a learning health system based on co-production principles for patients with serious illness. I am also a long-time collaborator with Katie Saunders and the HEx Lab.

Nicholas M. Fuller, MD

University of Minnesota | Dartmouth Student Alum

Nicholas is a resident physician in Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota. He joined the Healthcare Experience Lab in 2024 while completing his MD at the Geisel School of Medicine and applying to residency. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Pittsburgh in 2019, earning a BA in Philosophy and a BS in Neuroscience. His research interests span cognitive psychology, neuroscience, neurology (with a particular focus on stroke), philosophy, and medical ethics; he was awarded the Swigart Ethics Fellowship in 2022. Palliative care has become a central focus of his work, and he is particularly interested in agenda-setting interventions to improve patient–clinician communication. Outside of medicine and research, he enjoys reading fiction (especially the classics), playing the ukulele, and spending time with friends.

Renata W. Yen, PhD, MPH

Geisel School of Medicine

Renata is a health services researcher at the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health and the Department of Biomedical Data Science at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. She works on the OpenRecordings team under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Barr. Her research focuses on patient-clinician communication, particularly for patients with lower health literacy or who are socially disadvantaged. She completed her PhD in Health Policy & Clinical Practice at Dartmouth in 2023. Renata received a Masters in Public Health from Dartmouth in 2016 and a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Biology & Society and Development Sociology from Cornell University. Outside of work, Renata spends her time with her husband and two kids in their yard or otherwise outside. She is a novice gardener and also makes a decent lasagna.

Rhea Sachdeva, MPH

Dartmouth Student Alum

I graduated from the Master of Public Health program at the Dartmouth Institute in 2024. I am especially passionate about highlighting patient experiences and the intersection between public health and medicine. In the lab, I am researching the serious illness care experiences of chronic kidney disease patients at the nephrology department at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Outside of the lab, I am involved in quality improvement research in the patient experience field as well, using real-time rounding efforts to elicit patient perspectives directly and provide rapid feedback. I’m also a huge fan of the arts, like music, dance, theater, and pottery.

Elodie L. Richard, MS

Dartmouth Student Alum

Elodie was a HEx Linkages Scholar and a master’s student in the Quantitative and Biomedical Science program with a concentration in Epidemiology at Dartmouth College. She graduated from Trinity University in 2024 with a BS in Neuroscience. During her time with the HEx Lab, she worked on projects examining the priorities of outpatient palliative care patients and the topics they most wanted to discuss. She also supported a research letter describing how the consideRATE measure of serious illness experience was used to monitor care experiences and inform service recovery efforts at the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative & Hospice Care. Outside of research and coursework, she enjoyed spending time at coffee shops, baking, reading, and skiing in the winter.