Theresa Shireman, PhD, is a health services researcher who has published a number of large, national, and state-based observational studies, mostly using Medicare and/or Medicaid administrative claims data. Given her background in pharmacy, much of her work has included the explicit determination of medication exposure, factors which influence medication use over time, and the impact of medication exposure on various health outcomes. Dr. Shireman has successfully translated these skills to other interventions, including rehabilitation services. A second major area of investigation is economic evaluation of health care interventions, such as mechanical thrombectomy for ischemic stroke, behavioral interventions for weight loss and smoking cessation, and provider-based efforts to improve chronic disease.

Because of advanced methodologic considerations needed to understand the connection between clinical practice and effectiveness, Dr. Shireman’s skills as a teacher, mentor, and researcher will be foundational to LeaHD. In her many years of teaching courses and seminars on critical health services competencies, she has developed a keen and quick sense of adapting to learners’ needs and styles. 

Dr. Shireman has mentored more than 65 professional students during her career, including MD, Pharm D, MPH, PhD, and MS students, as well as K30/T32/KL2/K12 clinical fellows and post-doctoral awardees. She has supported young clinical scholars through K23 awards and diversity supplements. At the University of Kansas, she was the Associate Director of the Clinical Translational Research Education Core for their CTSA award, Frontiers, where she managed the pre-doctoral trainees and clinical research scholars in training. She also was the Executive Director of KUMC’s Master’s Degree in Clinical Research. At Brown University, she continues to mentor professionals, students, and scholars, serving as a member of the Executive/Selection Committee for the AHRQ T32, NIA T32, and the Center for Evidence Synthesis in Health K12 training programs. Dr. Shireman has served on the CoHSTAR Executive Committee, co-leading the research and training core, mentoring scholars, serving as faculty for workshops, and providing feedback to rehabilitation scholars. She is also co-Director of the Pilot Studies Program for the Learning Health Systems Rehabilitation Research Network (LeaRRn). She presently teaches graduate courses: introductory pharmacoepidemiology (PHP 2440), economics of the pharmaceutical industry (PHP 2436), and Medicaid and the safety net (PHP 2445).