Meet Our Team
JoAnna Leyenaar, MD, PhD, MPH
Principal Investigator |Professor
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. In addition, she is funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to examine urban-rural disparities in healthcare access and outcomes for children with medical complexity. Dr. Leyenaar received her MD from McMaster University (Canada), her MPH from Harvard University, and her PhD from Tufts University.
Stephanie Acquilano, MA
Research Project Director
Stephanie Acquilano is a health services researcher whose areas of interest include: mental and behavioral healthcare for children, shared decision-making, patient-centered care, coproduction of healthcare services, healthcare disparities and technology-based recovery support services. At the Leyenaar Lab, Ms. Acquilano is currently working on projects developing a brief intervention for children experiencing mental health boarding and comparing pediatric hospitalization admission processes. She earned her BA from Dartmouth College and her MA in Clinical Psychology from the University of Missouri – Columbia.
Andrea Austin, PHD
Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Andrea Austin has a PhD in Biostatistics from Brown University where her research focused on Social Network Analysis. She was an Assistant Professor of Statistics at SUNY Fredonia before becoming a Senior Research Scientist at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. Her research interests include claims-based analyses and in particular the application of Social Network Analysis and machine learning methodologies to health services research.
Andrew Schaefer, PHD, MA
Senior Programmer | Analyst
Before coming to TDI, Andrew received his PhD in Sociology form the University of New Hampshire where he also worked as a Research Scientist at the Carsey School of Public Policy. In that work, he used US Census data to investigate rural-urban disparities in various economic, educational, and social outcomes. On Dr. Leyenaar’s team, Andrew is currently working on a project aimed at understanding children with medical complexity. In this project, Andrew provides programming and analytic support in all-payer claims data for NH, MA, and CO. His main research interests include programming and rural-urban disparities in health.
Mary Arakelyan, MPH
Research Project Manager
Pursuing her interests in health services research, improving child health, and equitable access to care, Mary joined the Leyenaar Lab in 2021. Her current research efforts are focused on urban-rural disparities in healthcare access, quality, and outcomes for children with medical complexity and pediatric hospitalizations for mental health. In her role, Mary also assists in operations of the lab and co-mentors students. Mary earned her BSc from the University of British Columbia (Canada) and her MPH from The Dartmouth Institute (Dartmouth College), where she began working with Dr. Leyenaar.
Seneca Freyleue, MS
Programmer | Analyst
Seneca joined Dr. Leyenaar’s team in 2021 and has since been providing the team with programming and statistical support. He primarily works with all-payer claims data to assess urban-rural disparities in healthcare among children with medical complexity. His main areas of interest are statistical methodology in health services research and analytic programming. Seneca completed a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from the University of Vermont in 2019 then received his Master of Science in biostatistics, also from the University of Vermont, in 2020.
Jordan Taylor, BS
Research Project Manager
Jordan Taylor is a research project manager at TDI working on projects related to variation in neonatal and pediatric care. She joined the Leyenaar Lab in 2022 and is currently working on a project aimed at understanding the barriers and facilitators of direct hospital admission for children. Her main research interests include health outcomes and barriers to care in rural areas. She received her BS in psychology from the University of Alabama, and prior to coming to Dartmouth worked as a research assistant at the University of Virginia’s Center for Health Humanities and Ethics.
Mary Arakelyan, MPH
Research Project Manager