About Us

Our Atrium Health mission to improve health, elevate hope and advance healing – for all requires more than just having world-renowned physicians and access to state-of-the-art care. The team at the Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE) realizes this mission requires the alignment of system strategy with bold innovation and rigorous inquiry.

From our leadership to our faculty and staff, our diverse expertise leverages the power of data to generate evidence that informs high-quality,
patient-centered, cost-conscious care.

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CORE Leadership

Melanie Spencer, PhD, MBA
Executive Director

Dr. Spencer is a researcher and academic leader at Atrium Health. Her research interests are the application of bacterial genomics to human health, antibiotic stewardship and implementation science. Dr. Spencer earned her postdoctoral degree in bioinformatics and computational biology from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and her Master of Business Administration degree from Queens University of Charlotte. Her postdoctoral research focused on the human gastrointestinal microbiome, including the analysis of the relationships among human-associated microbes, disruptions to the microbial system, nutrition and chronic disease.

Andrew McWilliams, MD, MPH
Medical Director

Dr. McWilliams is an experienced clinician-researcher and faculty member in internal medicine and pediatrics. He promotes building Atrium Health into a learning healthcare system and works across departments to facilitate research and innovation. Dr. McWilliams earned his medical degree and Master of Public Health degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also completed his residency in internal medicine and pediatrics. He has a special interest in research that leverages new technologies to change healthcare delivery paradigms and advance the quality of care.

Faculty Leadership

Melanie Spencer, PhD, MBA
Executive Director, CORE
Associate Professor

Andrew McWilliams, MD, MPH
Medical Director, CORE
Associate Professor

Susan Evans, MBA
Director, Research Operations

Yhenneko Taylor, PhD
Director, Health Services Research
Associate Professor

Faculty and Staff

William Anderson, MS, JD
Senior Statistician

Todd Blair
Systems Engineer Specialist

Ryan Burns, MS
Project Manager

C. Danielle Connor, MPH
Associate Health Services Researcher

Marion Davis, PhD
Data Scientist
Assistant Professor

Tara Eaton, PhD
Senior Scientist
Assistant Professor

Bella Gutnik, MS
Senior Application Specialist

Tim Hetherington, MS
Lead Application Specialist

Shih-Hsiung Chou, PhD
Data Scientist, Acute Care
Assistant Professor

Marc Kowalkowski, PhD
Lead Scientist, Clinically Integrated Research
Associate Professor

Tsai-Ling Liu, PhD
Associate Data Scientist
Assistant Professor

Rohan Mahabaleshwarkar, PhD
Senior Data Scientist
Assistant Professor

Maggie McCarter, MSPH
Intermediate Statistician

Pooja Palmer, MS
Project Manager

Dawn Parks
Administrative Assistant

Jason Roberge, PhD, MPH
Senior Data Scientist, Population Health
Assistant Professor

Whitney Rossman, MS, PMP
Manager, Research Operations

Nigel Rozario, PhD
Senior Statistician
Assistant Professor

Felix Sanchez, MSITM
Senior Application Specialist

Alica Sparling, PhD
Senior Data Scientist, Population Health
Assistant Professor

Casey Stephens, MPH
Associate Statistician

Kamala Swayampakala, PhD
Data Scientist, Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute
Assistant Professor

Traci Yates, PhD
Senior Health Services Researcher
Assistant Professor

Jing Zhao, PhD
Senior Data Scientist
Assistant Professor

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