Ann Harada, PhD, MPH

Ann Harada, PhD, MPH, is a research scientist in the USC Schaeffer Center.  She was formerly the Center’s inaugural managing director where she led center operations, management, strategic planning, administration and strategic alliance/partnership building to further the center’s mission. She previously held positions as vice president of Clinical Analytics and Outcomes Research at OptumRx, a pharmacy and medical management company of UnitedHealth Group, director of research at Cedars-Sinai/Zynx Health Inc., researcher at the USC Department of Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy in the School of Pharmacy, and director of research for The Straub Foundation, a nonprofit clinical research and education organization in Hawaii.

With more than 25 years of research experience in government, nonprofit, academia, consulting, and managed care, Harada’s interests have focused on health services research, health policy analysis, risk assessment, predictive modeling, quality-of-life assessment, decision analytic cost-effectiveness modeling, and methodological research.  Harada received her PhD in biomedical sciences in the dual disciplines of biostatistics and epidemiology, an MPH in biostatistics and a BA in mathematics from the University of Hawaii.