Leadership | Center for Healthcare Policy and Research

Director, Center for Healthcare Policy and Research
Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences

CHPR’s Director Courtney Lyles, Ph.D., is a professor in the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences. She joined CHPR and UC Davis in July 2023 after serving as an associate professor in the UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations and the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. While at UCSF, Dr. Lyles served as co-director of the Innovation in Research and Informatics core for the UCSF Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and co-directed the UCSF Population Health Data Initiative. 

A trained health services researcher, she uses quantitative and qualitative methods to examine quality of care, health behavior and health outcomes. Her research specifically focuses on harnessing health information technology to improve chronic disease management to reduce disparities in health and healthcare outcomes. Her research portfolio spans digital health design and testing, evaluation and implementation, including multiple large digital health studies for improving diabetes, depression, hypertension and referrals to community-based health and social resources.

Dr. Lyles leverages her research, teaching, administrative and leadership background to execute CHPR’s mission to facilitate research, promote education and inform policy about health and healthcare. She manages CHPR’s staff and day-to-day operations with support from the associate director as well as a leadership team comprised of key faculty members, the chief administrative officer and supervisors.

Associate Director, Center for Healthcare Policy and Research
Professor and Chief, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Health Policy and Management

CHPR’s Associate Director Jeffrey Hoch, Ph.D., was recruited to UC Davis in Fall 2015. He is a professor and chief of the Division of Health Policy and Management in the Department of Public Health Sciences. Dr. Hoch’s experience is in health services research and health economics. He pursues research that makes health economics more useful to decisionmakers. An award-winning teacher, Dr. Hoch has taught Health Economics classes in the United States and internationally. His extensive research, teaching and mentoring experience with students, fellows and faculty has expanded CHPR’s capacity to conduct and communicate cost-effectiveness research.

Dr. Hoch is internationally known for his research studying value in healthcare using applied cost-effectiveness methods. He has given over 250 invited presentations in 15 countries and published more than 200 scientific papers in a variety of different areas from cancer to mental health. Dr. Hoch is an award-winning teacher with research collaborations around the world and serves on the California Technology Assessment Forum and the BMC Cancer journal editorial board.

Director, Doctor of Philosophy Program
Associate Dean for Research
Professor, Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Janice F. Bell, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.N., F.A.A.N., is the associate dean for research, director for the Doctor of Philosophy program, Western Health Advantage Endowed Professor and professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. In her role as associate dean and director for the doctoral program, she provides leadership, guidance and mentorship in research to faculty, students and staff in advancing the school's research program as well as contributes to the development of the next generation of nurse scientists. She also teaches doctoral courses.

Professor and Executive Vice Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine

James F. Holmes, M.D., M.P.H., is a professor of emergency medicine and his research aims to improve the quality of care that patients receive in the emergency department, including identifying appropriate indications for computed tomography utilization in children with blunt head or abdominal injuries. Dr. Holmes directs the UC Davis School of Medicine’s interdisciplinary KL2 career development program.

Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Biostatistics

Miriam Nuño, Ph.D., is a professor at the Division of Biostatistics in the Department of Public Health Sciences. Dr. Nuño’s research interests focus on the design and analysis of observational studies, primarily in the context of public health research. Her research emphasizes three areas: comparative effectiveness research in cancer, causal inference methods and the application of mathematical models with observational data for the prediction of patient outcomes. Her primary methodological research interests are in multivariable and longitudinal data analysis, statistical models for observational data, mathematical modeling for infectious diseases, health disparities and outcomes research for traumatic brain injury and surgical patients. 

Professor, Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Pediatrics 

Patrick Romano, M.D., M.P.H., is a professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at UC Davis Health. His research and teaching interests focus on developing, testing, and validating healthcare quality measures, using outcomes data to improve the quality and effectiveness of healthcare, and studying the role of clinicians in optimizing quality and safety in healthcare.

Former Director, Center for Healthcare Policy and Research
Professor Emeritus, Department of Family and Community Medicine

Former Director Joy Melnikow, M.D., M.P.H., led CHPR from 2009-2021. As Director, she leveraged her clinical, research, and teaching expertise to execute CHPR’s mission. Dr. Melnikow’s own research spans mental health, cancer screening and prevention in women, healthcare access, and the synthesis and integration of evidence in policy formulation. Under Dr. Melnikow’s leadership, CHPR experienced consistent growth in grant support, faculty membership, and interdisciplinary program development. 

Former Director, Center for Healthcare Policy and Research
Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine

Former Director Richard Kravitz, M.D., M.S.P.H., led CHPR from 1996-2006. As Director, Dr. Kravitz expanded CHPR’s interdisciplinary role, which was reflected by the decision in 2006 to rename the Center from the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care to its current name: Center for Healthcare Policy and Research. CHPR was awarded its status as an Organized Research Unit (ORU) in 1999 under the leadership of Dr. Kravitz.

Former Director, Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care (currently the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research)
Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Family and Community Medicine

From 1994-1996, Klea Bertakis, M.D., M.P.H., served as the founding Director of the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, which was renamed the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research in 2006. She also served as CHPR’s Interim Director from 2007-2009. Dr. Bertakis guided the early development of the Center and positioned CHPR to play a critical role in both UC Davis Health and wider UC Davis academic research as an Organized Research Unit (ORU).