Meet AIR's Experts

AIR’s staff have deep expertise in the topics that touch our daily lives: education, health care, work, and everything in between. Their contributions help fulfill AIR’s mission to contribute to a better world. Through our Meet the Expert feature, get to know some of AIR’s key staff, learning what drives and keeps them going, the work they find most meaningful, and even a little bit about how they spend their personal time.

Illustrations by AIR's Rick Burks.

Illustration of Guido Cataife

Guido Cataife

Guido Cataife oversees about 20 projects within AIR’s health division, focusing on health care payment and delivery models. He directed the large-scale evaluation of the Medicare Appeals Demonstration and the operations subcontract for Kidney Care Choices, an alternative payment model, both for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

Illustration of Juan Bonilla

Juan Bonilla

Juan Bonilla studies agricultural development, nutrition, social protection, and education policy as part of AIR's International Development Division. In his Q&A, he discusses misconceptions about diet diversity, the promise of AI for farmers, and how orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are improving maternal and infant health in Tanzania.

Illustration of Karla Lopez De Nava

Karla López de Nava

Karla López de Nava studies health policy with a focus on Medicare payment models. Read her Q&A to find out how she uses advanced statistical analyses to evaluate value-based care models on their design, operation, and implementation. 

Illustration of Candace Hester

Candace Hester

Candace Hester leads rigorous evaluations for programs designed to empower communities and reimagine opportunities for justice-involved youth. She is also a member of the teaching faculty at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School for Public Policy.

Illustration of Pooja Nakamura

Pooja Reddy Nakamura

Pooja Reddy Nakamura focuses on foundational learning and multilingual education and has overseen projects in over 20 countries to understand how early literacy is acquired in complex, multilingual contexts. In this Q&A she shares how governments are using evidence to improve national literacy, the benefits of multilingualism, and tactics that help sustain literacy programs.

Illustration of Brandy Farrar

Brandy Farrar

Brandy Farrar uses mixed methods to identify evidence-based best practices for health care policies and services. Here she talks about her research experience, which spans a variety of organizational settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, government agencies, and educational institutions.

Illustration of Markus Broer

Markus Broer

Markus Broer provides expert advice and research support to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which benchmarks the educational achievements of K-12 students in the United States. In his Q&A, he explains how NAEP allows for apples-to-apples comparisons across states and districts, how AIR helps validate NAEP's results, and important trends in educational outcomes.

Illustration of Ashu Handa

Ashu Handa

Ashu Handa is an economist whose work centers on global poverty, health, and human development in sub-Saharan Africa. In his interview, he explains how cash transfer programs have the potential to create long-term, multi-generational change; what piqued his interest in poverty research and alleviation; and how his international background shapes his work.

Illustration of Dean Gerdeman

Dean Gerdeman

Dean Gerdeman leads AIR projects that create rigorous, accessible evidence to help address challenges in education ranging from teacher training and development to disparities in student outcomes. In his interview, he considers the past, present, and future of education in the United States, including virtual schooling, teacher shortages, and the long-term outcomes of the pandemic.

Illustration of Melissa Hafner

Melissa Hafner

Melissa Hafner, a health policy researcher at AIR, recently conducted a study on dually-eligible individuals—patients who receive both Medicaid and Medicare benefits. In her interview, she discusses those findings, how American healthcare is evolving, and her personal journey to this line of work.

Illustration of Kathleen Murphy

Kathleen Murphy

Individuals with disabilities continue to be excluded from employment at disproportionate rates. Kathleen Murphy, a principal investigator for AIR’s Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, discusses the common misconceptions and barriers these individuals face, and how new technologies are opening doors—while closing others.

Illustration of Jaleh Soroui

Jaleh Soroui

Jaleh Soroui leads the AIR team that provides expertise, technical assistance, and management for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Throughout her career, Jaleh has been at the forefront of incorporating education technology into adult education.

Illustration of Amanda Latimore

Amanda Latimore

Amanda Latimore, who leads AIR's Center for Addiction Research and Effective Solutions (AIR CARES) and teaches social epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discusses how education, the employment system, housing, health care, and social context all play a role in her work—and the impact of the pandemic on substance disorders.

Illustration of Josh Polanin

Joshua R. Polanin

Josh Polanin, principal researcher and project director for AIR’s What Works Clearinghouse, discusses his experience in quantitative methodology, particularly systematic review and meta-analysis, which allows him to design and lead studies across the field of education research. 

Illustration of Eboni Howard

Eboni Howard

Eboni Howard is a nationally recognized expert in child and family development, implementation science, and mixed-methods evaluation approaches. In this interview, she describes her work on such topics as early childhood systems change, Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, and professional development. 

Illustration of Allison Gandhi

Allison Gandhi

Allison Gandhi directs and implements large research projects at AIR and oversees the organization’s special education practice area. Find out what she thinks are trends to watch in special education over the next 5-10 years.

Illustration of Roger Jarjoura

Roger Jarjoura

Roger Jarjoura is on the leadership team for AIR’s National Reentry Resource Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. In his interview, he says the reason why the United States has such a high rate of incarceration "is not because of rocketing crime rates, but because our justice system involves punitive practices."

Illustration of Samia Amin

Samia Amin

Samia Amin leads the workforce development practice at AIR. She’s helped federal, state, local, and international governments and foundations develop and refine workforce programs. Find out more about her work using methods such as behavioral insights, human-centered design, and research-driven pilot programs for continuous program improvement.

Illustration of Thomas de Hoop

Thomas de Hoop

Thomas de Hoop is a development economist, with 15+ years of experience designing, implementing, and leading impact evaluations and systemic reviews. Read what motivated him to choose this path–and what advice he has for people wanting to pursue a career in social science research.

Illustration of David Osher

David Osher

David Osher, vice president and Institute Fellow, works across a variety of topic areas—including school and community mental health services and interventions, school climate and conditions for learning, and implementation science and data use—both domestically and internationally.  Find out what he's learned in his 50+ year career, and what he thinks is the future of violence prevention in schools.

Illustration of Deb Moroney

Deborah Moroney

Deborah Moroney specializes in bridging research and practice, having worked as a staff member for out-of-school programs early in her career. She's written practitioner and organizational guides, and co-authored the fourth edition of “Beyond the Bell®, A Toolkit for Creating High-Quality Afterschool and Expanded Learning Programs”.

Meet the Expert Archive

Illustration of Ann-Maria Faria

Ann-Marie Faria

AIR early childhood development and education expert, Ann-Marie Faria focuses on quantitative research in early childhood settings, drawing on her experience as a former kindergarten and elementary school teacher. Read about how her experience as a foster mom has changed her perspective on her research.

Illustration of Mehari Belachew

Mehari Belachew

In his 25+ years running medium- and large-scale surveys in Africa, Mehari Belachew has learned to expect the unexpected. In this interview, he talks about the obstacles that can derail survey design and data collection in this region of the world—and how preparation and flexibility can overcome them.