CEIR Staff

Nicholas Bowersox, PhD, ABPP, CEIR Director

Nick founded the QUERI Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) in 2017 and has served as its Director since its launch.  Nick is a board-certified clinical psychologist who has worked in various patient care, training, and evaluation roles in VA since 2010. Nick collaborated with QUERI to found CEIR to serve as VA’s centralized resource for best practices related to applied program evaluation and implementation science to inform VA operations. Nick is an Investigator within the Office of Mental Health’s Serious Mental Illness Treatment Resource and Evaluation Center (SMITREC), where he is the Lead Evaluator for the National Psychosis Registry (NPR) workgroup, overseeing the team which manages a national administrative dataset related to the care of Veteran patients with serious mental illnesses.  He is also the Training Director for the SMITREC Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mental Illness Research and Treatment (MIRT), a program which helps to train the next generation of VA clinical researchers.  Nick is also an investigator within the Ann Arbor HSRD Center for Clinical Management Research and the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry and Department of Learning Health Sciences.

Additional information related to Nick’s work can be found here: https://experts.umich.edu/3544-nicholas-bowersox/about

Jessica McDonald, MPH, CEIR Administrative Officer

Jessica joined the Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) as an Administrative Center Officer in 2023. She has 17+ years of diverse experience in the public health sector with special emphasis on public health program management, equity, diversity, inclusion, quality improvement, program and project evaluation, budget tracking and oversight, health behavior change theory and policy, systems and environmental change processes. Jessica has held positions internationally, in local county government and within both private and nonprofit sectors. Jessica holds a Master's degree in Public Health and resides in California with her husband and two children. In her free time, she loves cooking and traveling.

Contact: Jessica.mcdonald7@va.gov

Ananda Maxwell, CEIR Administrative Assistant

Ananda joined the Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) as a Research Assistant in 2022. With a background in program management and administrative support, she has honed skills in office management prior to her current role. Ananda has played a vital role within the federal, state, and county sectors, where she provided essential administrative support to staff, ensuring smooth operations and effective program implementation. Outside of her professional life, Ananda cherishes peaceful and quiet moments spent with family and friends, finding joy in the simple pleasures of life.

Contact: ananda.maxwell@va.gov

Linda Kawentel, PhD, Evaluation Core Lead

Linda serves as the Evaluation Core Lead for the QUERI Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR), having joined CEIR as an evaluator in 2019. Her work involves designing and leading evaluations on topics aligned with VHA and QUERI priorities, providing consultation on program evaluation projects for VHA researchers and operational partners, and developing reference materials to promote the use of best practices in program evaluation and implementation science throughout the VA healthcare system. Her areas of interest include the healthcare workforce, access to care, and religion and health. Linda received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to joining CEIR, she conducted applied research and evaluation for academic and philanthropic organizations.

Contact: Linda.kawentel@va.gov

C. Ann Vitous, MS, MPH, Qualitative Analyst

Ann (she/her) joined the Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) as a Lead Qualitative Analyst in 2023. She has 7+ years of diverse experience in research and evaluation settings, utilizing an applied anthropological perspective coupled with qualitative and mixed methods to explore diverse topics focused on enhancing the health and well-being of patients and providers and improving healthcare settings. Ann holds a Master’s degree in Applied Medical Anthropology and Global Health Practice, and she resides in Michigan with her husband and two children. Ann loves reading, listening to music, and hiking in her free time.

Contact: crystal.vitous@va.gov

Gezan Yahya, MPH, Mixed Methods Analyst

Gezan joined the Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) as a Mixed Methods Analyst in 2021 after receiving her MPH from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Prior to joining CEIR, she worked on projects that focused on a wide variety of topics, including an evaluation of a COVID-19 hospitalization risk assessment tool, development of competency-based trainings to enhance cancer management strategies in Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, and an assessment of the impact of waste management strategies on population health in Thailand. As a member of CEIR’s Evaluation Core, Gezan utilizes both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods when conducting evaluations. Her public health interests include telehealth, health equity, and access to care.

Contact: Gezan.Yahya@va.gov

Kaylee Burgan, MA, Qualitative Analyst

Kaylee joined the Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) as a Qualitative Data Analyst in the Evaluation Core in 2023. She has 5 years of experience in program evaluation, with emphasis on qualitative data collection and analysis. Kaylee’s previous work focused on the intersection of infectious diseases, substance use disorder, and mental health in rural populations, as well as the interactions of food policy, access, and healthy equity in Veteran populations in the Southeast. Kaylee holds a Master’s degree in Applied Medical Anthropology and she resides in Alabama with her dog, Atticus. In her free time, she enjoys reading, pottery, and game nights.

Contact: kaylee.burgan@va.gov

John Donnelly, PhD, Partnership Core Lead

John Donnelly, PhD, MSPH, MS is currently an Implementation Scientist at the QUERI Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) and an Associate Investigator in the HSR Center for Clinical Management Research (CCMR) at the LTC Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center within the VA Ann Arbor Health System. He is also a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Learning Health Sciences (DLHS) at the University of Michigan Medical School and an Investigator at the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI). He received his PhD in epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and joined the faculty at UM as part of an NHLBI-funded K12 training program focused on applied implementation science to improve care for critically ill patients in 2018. His primary area of research is the linkage of advanced quantitative methods with implementation science to improve care for patients with life-threatening infection. In addition to implementation science, John has expertise in the areas of health services research, study design methodology, statistical methods, and observational causal inference.

At CEIR, John leads the Partnership Core, which focuses on delivering consultation to the field related to evaluation and implementation science methods. Additional information related to John’s work can be found here: https://experts.umich.edu/5322-john-donnelly

Contact: john.donnelly5@va.gov

Jessie Arnold, MA, Project Manager

Jessie joined the Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) as a Project Manager in 2023. Jessie has a background in overseeing and conducting research projects from conception to completion as well as experience in evaluation of state and federally funded projects. Her work has focused on the public health sector, specifically with substance use disorder and behavioral health endeavors.  She has a Master’s degree in Applied Sociology. Jessie and her wife have two dogs and enjoy spending time in the outdoors.

Contact: jessica.arnold4@va.gov

Nardeen Shafik, DrPH, Learning Core Lead

Nardeen joined the Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) as the Learning Core Lead in 2023. She has 10 years of diverse experience in the public health sector with special emphasis on public health education and training, provider support, quality assurance and improvement, as well as program and project evaluation. Nardeen has worked across different levels of organization both nationally and internationally, including in local county government and within both private and nonprofit sectors. Nardeen holds a depth of knowledge in content areas related to HIV/AIDS, substance use prevention, mental health, health behavior change, and health equity. She holds a Doctorate and a Master's degree in Public Health. Nardeen resides in California, and loves to travel, try new food, and learn dances from different cultures.

Contact: nardeen.shafik@va.gov 

Jessica Johnson, BS, Research Assistant

Jessica Johnson (Jess) joined the Center for Evaluation and Implementation Resources (CEIR) as a Research Assistant in 2023. Jessica has 5 years of career experience across various industries within both private and nonprofit sectors. In these sectors, Jessica gained skills in e-commerce, community outreach, social science & UX research, client management, political advocacy, marketing, event planning, and grant writing where she provided project management and administration support. She holds a B.S. in Psychological Sciences and a minor in Business. Currently based in Arizona, Jessica runs her own guinea pig grooming business. In her leisure time, she enjoys being active, traveling, and going outdoors.

Contact: jessica.johnson20@va.gov