Dr. Roby is an Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at the UMD School of Public Health and Director of the Health Systems and Policy Research Lab. He is an expert in health reform, public policy, policy analysis, program evaluation, Medicaid, and the health care safety net. Dr. Roby was formerly the Director of the Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, where he developed the capacity to conduct evaluations of Medicaid demonstration waiver programs using claims and survey data, and worked with colleagues from UCLA and UC Berkeley to develop the California Simulation of Insurance Markets (CalSIM) model to estimate the impact of health care reforms on insurance coverage in California. He earned his PhD in public policy at the George Washington University and his BA in Geography at UCLA.

Dahai Yue, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. He recently completed his Ph.D. in Health Services at UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health, where he also served as a graduate assistant at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research's Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program. He has broad expertise in research methodology, statistical programming, community health centers, and program evaluation. His research has appeared in Health Affairs and BMJ Global Health.

Jun is a PhD candidate at the UMD Department of Health Policy and Management. His main research interest is examining how health policies and public programs may impact the health and wellbeing of immigrants in the United States. Jun also maintains an active research agenda focused on elderly patients with Alzheimer's Disease and related dementia (ADRD). Prior to his PhD journey, Jun worked as a statistician at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Jun is a life-long Marylander. He received both BS in Mathematics and MPH in Biostatistics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Ren Hao is a Graduate Research Assistant and PhD student in the Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, UMD College Park. Ren Hao received his Bachelor degree in biological science and MPA from the University of Vermont, as well as his MPH from Drexel University focusing on Health Policies and Economics. He previously worked for the City of Philadelphia in managing Medicaid funds and inspecting mental health provider quality improvement. Ren's research interest focus on health policy evaluation and innovation. Specifically, what policy tools the federal and state government can utilize to promote health care coverage and quality with lower cost, and how agencies can implement them.

Elsie Essien, MPH is a doctoral student (PhD) in Health Services Research at the University of Maryland, School of Public Health. Prior to pursuing her doctoral degree, Elsie worked as the Program Manager for GLOhBAL (Global Learning. Optimizing health. Building Alliances Locally), the paediatrics residency Global Health Training Program at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Northwell Health. As part of this leadership role, she co-led curriculum development for trainees on cross-cultural care, immigrant health, ethical dilemmas impacting patient care in the United States and international settings, and public health pandemic preparedness. She supported trainees’ research activities at international partner sites and co-facilitated pre-departure Global Health Preparatory Knowledge and Skills Boot Camp training for domestic and overseas global health rotations. Ms. Essien earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Health Policy and Management and her Advanced Certificate in Global Health Studies at the University at Albany-SUNY, School of Public Health. She has served as a Global Health Fellow for the Duke University Program on Global Policy and Governance in Geneva, Switzerland, where she worked with the Rights, Gender, Prevention & Community Mobilization Department at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on HIV prevention programming for hard-to-reach populations. Presently, she works with Dr. Yue on a study that investigates the association between homelessness and health care utilization among Medicaid enrollees in California, and how the association differs across gender and racial/ethnic groups. In addition, she provides research support to CommuniVax, a national coalition led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (CHS) and Texas State University, and works closely with co-investigators at the Maryland Center for Health Equity (M-CHE) on the challenges and opportunities for effective and equitable COVID-19 vaccine rollout among historically underserved racial/ethnic communities in Prince George’s County. Her research interests are in maternal, infant and child health; global health; domestic (US) and global health policy; primary and preventive health care; social determinants of health; and improving health care quality, costs and access for vulnerable populations. In her leisure time, Elsie enjoys reading, working on visual arts projects, and spending time with family and friends.