Mission, Vision & Staff

Marko Vujicic, Chief Economist and Vice President

Marko Vujicic currently serves as chief economist and vice president of the Health Policy Institute as well as chief of international relations at the American Dental Association. In his role as chief economist, Dr. Vujicic oversees a comprehensive research program focusing on oral health policy issues in the U.S. health care system. In his role as chief of international relations, he oversees all global initiatives within the Association.

Previously, Dr. Vujicic was senior economist with The World Bank in Washington D.C. where he focused on health systems reform in developing countries and directed the global health workforce policy program. Dr. Vujicic was also a health economist with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. In all of these roles, Dr. Vujicic led large-scale strategic initiatives focused on bringing cutting edge data and research to specific health policy challenges.

Dr. Vujicic has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals such as Health Affairs, The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Health Services Research, Health Economics, Social Science and Medicine, and Medical Care. He is also the lead author of the book, Working in Health, which examines global health workforce challenges; Marko has also written several book chapters on health care policy issues. His team’s work has been cited by CNN, The New York Times, NBC News, CNBC, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, PBS NOVA, and The Atlantic. Dr. Vujicic has provided testimony to federal and state legislative committees, most recently to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Health Care.

Dr. Vujicic holds several academic appointments. He is adjunct senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania and affiliate faculty at the Center for Health and the Social Sciences, University of Chicago as well as the Center for Health Services and Policy Research at the University of British Columbia. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and a visiting assistant professor at Tufts University. He co-chairs the World Economic Forum’s oral health affinity group.

Dr. Vujicic obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor’s degree in Business from McGill University in Montreal.

Deesha Bhaumik, Senior Health Policy Analyst

Deesha leads both research and advocacy for various HPI projects focused on dental policy. She is responsible for both quantitative and qualitative analysis and keeps HPI informed and up to date on new oral health policies issues, particularly in Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act. Deesha obtained her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan, Master's in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.

Colby Borges, Research Analyst, Data Visualization

Colby is responsible for designing complex interactive dashboards and infographics for the delivery of data to both internal and external users, enhancing and modernizing HPI's initiative on data presentation. He also manages, cleans and programs various data sources for statistical analysis. Prior to joining the ADA in 2023, Colby worked as a Research and Data Scientist in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Colby obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Brittany Flynn, Manager, Digital Content and Editing

Brittany promotes the quality and visibility of HPI content by preparing reports for publication, maintaining the HPI website, and collecting and distilling data.  Prior to joining the ADA in 2015, Brittany worked as a graduate assistant for DePaul University History Department. Brittany obtained her Master’s degree in History from DePaul University and Bachelor’s degree in History and American Studies from Lake Forest College.

Adriana Menezes, Director, Operations

Adriana directs, plans and administers HPI's work plan strategy. She is accountable for a large scope of divisional work, including budget development and monitoring, business development and marketing functions, overseeing HPI’s analytic services function, contractual negotiations, arrangements for external vendor and consultant relationships, survey data collection for key aspects of HPI’s data infrastructure, and dissemination and branding of HPI research. Prior to joining the ADA in 2002 as a Research Analyst, she was a Marketing Research Analyst at CNA Insurance. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and International Business from DePaul University in Chicago.

Matthew Mikkelsen, Senior Manager, Education and Panel Surveys

Matthew's primary responsibilities include: the programming, distribution and oversight of the annual surveys of more than 1,400 accredited predoctoral, advanced, and allied dental education programs on behalf of the Commission on Dental Accreditation; the publication of HPI’s annual series of reports on dental education; dissemination of education survey data for ad hoc queries from internal and external customers; the programming, distribution and oversight of HPI’s monthly Economic and Emerging Issues in Dentistry survey panel; data collection and reporting activities related to CODA site visits of accredited dental education programs; and the administration of, and user support for, the ADA’s online survey system. Matthew received his Master’s degree in Applied Sociology from Loyola University Chicago and his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology with a specialization in Health and Humanities from Michigan State University.

Rachel Morrissey, Senior Research Analyst, Education and Emerging Issues

Rachel leads the analysis of data for various HPI projects focused on dental education and emerging issues within the field of dentistry. She has co-authored a number of articles related to dental workforce staffing issues and COVID-19 prevalence and incidence among dental health workers. Prior to joining the ADA in 2014, Rachel worked as an association/nonprofit research consultant and was also a survey specialist at the National Opinion Research Center. Rachel received a Master's degree in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Bradley Munson, Senior Research Analyst

Bradley is responsible for the analysis of complex statistical information gathered in multiple concurrent research projects using both primary and secondary data, providing significant contributions to a variety of research initiatives within the Institute. Prior to joining the American Dental Association in 2000, he worked as a Data Analyst at Information Resources, Inc. Bradley obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Math from Northwestern University.

Kamyar Nasseh, Health Economist

Kamyar leads in the research and writing of peer-reviewed manuscripts for policy, medical, and health economics journals. Kamyar manages staff in the production of ADA health policy briefs and also oversees efforts that will enhance the data infrastructure of the ADA. Prior to joining the ADA in 2012, he was a Health Economist at Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefits manager. He was also an Economist at Travelers Insurance, where he conducted research on workers’ compensation healthcare resource utilization and measured the impact of various policy changes on individual claim outcomes. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Michigan State University, where his area of specialization was in cross-section and panel data econometrics.

Greg Saldutte, Senior Research and Data Analyst

Greg builds and manages a variety of data sources in order to conduct research initiatives. He also contributes to survey development and journal article writing. Prior to joining the ADA in 2023, Greg was a research professional at the University of Chicago and a research associate at Harvard Business School. Greg holds an M.Sc. in Economic Development from Charles III University of Madrid and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Rebecca Starkel Weninger, Senior Research Analyst

Rebecca provides significant contributions to a variety of research initiatives within the Institute, and is responsible for numerous data collection activities, research analyses, and report and journal article writing. She joined the ADA in 2008. Rebecca obtained her Master’s and Ph.D. degrees, both in Applied Social Psychology, from Loyola University Chicago.

Sylvia Zeno, Manager of Administrative Services

Sylvia is responsible for managing the day-to-day administrative activities of the Institute. Prior to joining the ADA in 2007 as a Senior Project Assistance, she worked as a Research Librarian Assistant at the Illinois CPA Society. Sylvia obtained her Master’s degree in Journalism from the Columbia College Chicago and has a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago.