Search

Kathleen Flanagan is president and chief executive officer of Abt Global. She assumed the position on October 1, 2009, after a distinguished career working across the broad range of markets and policy areas that reflect the company's business today. Flanagan joined the company in 1983 as a policy analyst in the Health Area. In 1989 she became managing vice president of the company's Labor Economics Research Area, overseeing research on workforce development and income security programs. In the mid-1990s she launched the International Workforce and Education Practice, winning projects from clients including the U.S. Agency for International Development, World Bank and U.S. Department of Labor. In 1998, she launched the company's Housing and Community Revitalization practice and built a team of more than 75 researchers and technical assistance staff working on affordable housing and community development policies at the federal, state and local levels. In 2005, she was named group vice president for social, economic, and health policy.

Alan White is a nationally renowned health economist, highly respected for his rapid response to clients’ complex information and research needs with data-driven, creative solutions. As the senior health economist for the Health Policy Practice, he leads high-profile projects and guides the practice’s health economists.

Dr. Michael Plotzke is a senior health economist with expertise in the area of Medicare payment policy, the organization of healthcare providers and quality measurement. His work typically involves the analysis of large datasets such as Medicare claims, assessment and enrollment data. Dr. Plotzke serves as principal investigator for multiple projects with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  On the “Home Health Prospective Payment System and Hospice: Analysis Support and Monitoring” project, Dr. Plotzke leads a team of researchers in analyzing trends in Medicare hospice and home health usage and constructing large-scale payment reform options for both benefits.  Dr. Plotzke also leads the “Evaluation of the Medicare Care Choices Model” project that evaluates a new payment model for end-of-life care that is being tested with 141 hospice providers.  This project involves analysis of existing administrative data and collection of new data through surveys of caregivers, surveys of hospice providers and in-depth case studies of hospice providers participating in the model.

Meghan Lynch, Sc.D., is an accomplished manager of cross-disciplinary teams, with 20 years of experience specializing in toxicology and human health risk assessment. She is skilled at interpreting, evaluating, and communicating toxicological and epidemiological information for hazardous substances. She has managed a variety of projects for ATSDR, OSHA, EPA, and nonprofit agencies. These include leading tasks requiring the synthesis of toxicological information and risk assessments, and performing both probabilistic and benchmark dose modeling. The results of these projects have been subject to peer review. Lynch has also provided memorandums and analyses supporting risk assessments and addressing industry comments, which have been used to support plaintiffs in litigation for chemical contaminants.

Sarah J. Shoemaker-Hunt has more than 15 years of experience as a health services researcher and implementation scientist. As an experienced pharmacist, she brings a practice-informed lens to her role conducting mixed-methods studies and evaluations and delivering technical assistance and quality improvement projects for federal health agencies. They include the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Clients also include non-governmental organizations. Sarah is the Abt client account lead for AHRQ.

Dr. Ndombour Gning Cisse is a biologist and scientist with 16 years of experience in public health and environmental health management, particularly in malaria vector control in Africa. She has experience in all aspects of insecticide spraying operations, including planning, training, supervision, human resources talent management, leadership development, strategic planning, project implementation, and capacity development assignments in four countries.

Chanry Im has more than 10 years of experience directing monitoring and evaluation and technical assistance for national health programs in Cambodia, working with government stakeholders from the peripheral, sub-national, and national levels. Trained as an epidemiologist, he also has experience in health management information systems (HMIS). His technical support to the Cambodian national tuberculosis (TB) program transformed the management of TB patient’s health data from a paper-based to web-based system for real-time data collection. His current focus includes working with the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology, and Malaria Control, the University of Puthisastra, and the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI).

Brooke Abrams is a trained political scientist and researcher. With over 11 years of experience, she specializes in applied housing and health, bringing expertise in managing and contributing to place-based, mixed-method, and community-centered solutions. Her work spans research, evaluation, and technical assistance (TA) projects across diverse policy domains, delivering innovative and tailored strategies to drive impactful change.As a Client Solutions Architect at Abt, Abrams plays a pivotal role in designing client-focused frameworks and solutions that emphasize rigorous, data-informed, multi-disciplinary, and population-tailored design. She specializes in community-specific, monitoring, evaluation, and technical assistance approaches to engage and work alongside persons with lived expertise.

Ernest Fletcher is an international development professional with 15 years’ experience in the planning, implementation, and management of education and public health programs. He has a special interest in program design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation and capacity building. He has worked in Ghana and Mozambique and provided remote vector control program implementation support to countries including Senegal, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone. He has worked closely with Ministry of Education (Ghana) and Ministry of Health staff in several countries.

Dr. Rebecca Devitt is an international specialist in gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI). Dr. Devitt brings 15-plus years of experience in policy development, corporate strategy, and program design and implementation of large-scale, technically complex development programs across Southeast Asia and the Pacific. She has achieved development outcomes by engaging with governments, civil society, research, multilateral, and donor partners. Her expertise extends to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander equality, inclusive governance, and civil society-led reform.