Kirsten Evans, MS

Kirsten Evans, ScM, is a Health Scientist Administrator in the Outcomes Research Branch (ORB) within the Healthcare Delivery Research Program (HDRP). Kirsten’s role within ORB includes research and communications support for the Improving Management of SymPtoms Across Cancer Treatments (IMPACT) Consortium (a Cancer Moonshot Initiative designed to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of routine symptom surveillance and systematic symptom management in cancer care delivery), the SEER-Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (SEER-MHOS) data resource, and the SEER-Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (SEER-CAHPS) data resource. Kirsten also engages in strategic planning for ORB and performs portfolio analyses for the branch and division working groups.

Kirsten is a clinical epidemiologist with experience in quantitative analysis of surveillance systems, observational studies, clinical trials, and large electronic health records. She has a particular interest in the intersection between mental health and chronic disease, specifically how health behaviors and social determinants of health impact the relationship. Her prior work includes research on area-level socio-economic status and trends in life expectancy, intervention effectiveness in those with mental illness and substance use, the role of nutrition in cardiovascular health and cognitive decline, and executive functioning and risky sexual behaviors among young adults.

Before joining ORB, Kirsten was a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) at NHLBI, where she performed institute-wide portfolio analyses and evaluations of program performance for data-driven decision-making. She then did a developmental rotation with CDC conducting research on the geographic patterns of racial disparities in stroke hospitalizations and utilized large electronic health record data to create an ePhenotype for depression.