Norrina Allen, PhD, FAHA
PRO/Research Generation Lead
Norrina is is a Professor of Epidemiology and Pediatrics at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern Univ. She has been at the forefront of research defining CVH across the life course. She has extensive experience with risk prediction modeling as well as cohort recruitment and retention given her leadership within the NHLBI cohorts.
Thomas Carton, PhD, MS
Thomas is the Chief Data and Strategy Officer at Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), PI of the PCORnet® clinical research network (CRN), REACHnet. He is a population scientist specializing in surveillance and electronic cohort studies spanning CVD, congenital heart disease, substance abuse, COVID-19, and long-COVID.
Steven Smith, PharmD, MPH, FAHA
Data Lead
Steven is Interim Chair, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Outcomes & Policy, and Director, Center for Integrative CV and Metabolic Disease at the Univ. of Florida. He is a CV pharmacoepidemiologist with expertise in large observational studies and EHR-claims data linkage.
Greg Merritt, PhD
Greg is the founder of Patient is Partner, LLC, and a grateful patient living a gifted second life of meaning and purpose after surviving a cardiac arrest and a heart attack. As a patient partner in numerous PCORI-funded studies, a member of PCORI’s CTAP advisory committee, and a member of the PCORnet Steering Committee and Executive Management Team, his mission is to find new and innovative ways for researchers to authentically and effectively partner with patients to co-create research that matters to patients and care-partners. Having grown up in poverty, a focus on health equity is not just a good goal but a personal mission for all of us to “do better”.
Beth Nauman, PhD, MPH
Engagement & Dissemination Lead
Beth is Dual PI of REACHnet and Senior Director of Health Services Research at LPHI. She has experience conducting stakeholder-engaged research spanning interventional trials, observational studies, and natural experiments using linked EHR and claims data. Dr. Nauman serves on the PCORnet® Executive Management Team and has been involved since the network’s inception in developing the research infrastructure and implementing large, patient-centered studies.
C.P. Benziger, MD, MPH, FACC FAHA
Recruitment Lead
C.P. Benziger is a cardiologist at Essentia Health and adjunct associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus. She has extensive clinical trial leadership experience as consortium co-PI for the STAR CRN in PCORnet and site PI on multiple PCORnet pragmatic trials.