Susan Heil
As a principal researcher at AIR, Susan Heil is responsible for research and planning tasks and management of projects that evaluate federal policy, implement programs, and transform systems of care. Dr. Heil has assisted federal agencies, including SAMHSA/CSAT, SSA, NIH, and CMS, with strategic planning, performance assessment, performance improvement, and evaluation of designated program areas; as well as conducted needs assessments, strategic planning, and technical assistance delivery to state-level grantees receiving these agencies’ discretionary and non-discretionary grant awards.
Dr. Heil leads large-scale technical assistance contracts, research on public health issues and outcomes, campaign research, comprehensive literature reviews, and ensures translation of key findings into informed study design choices, action plans, or methodological approaches for subsequent phases of research and evaluation projects. She served as project director and technical lead for a $16 million, five-year project to support the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in their initiatives to enhance state capacity for performance-based management of publicly funded substance abuse treatment services; as well as technical assistance to Access to Recovery Round 1 grantees.
Dr. Heil’s technical expertise includes data modeling, methodological design, measurement and quantitative analysis; integration of secondary data through database linkage algorithms; literature review and technical writing; policy and program analyses; facilitation and synthesis of expert panel meetings; technical consultation to state grantees; and presentations of research and project plans to stakeholders. Her research experience encompasses a variety of public health domains and project areas. She also has state-level research experience, having previously been employed by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services as a senior data analyst. In addition, she has various publications and professional presentations to her credit.