about me

Pronunciation: Davene rhymes with ravine [listen: 👂]

I am a health care researcher with expertise in a range of decision sciences methods that many perceive to be disparate, but which I have proven to be complementary tools for the development of interventions and policies to improve pediatric chronic disease management. The majority of my work focuses on pediatric health, obesity, and diabetes. My research has been funded by NIH, the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association. You can view my published research at PubMed or Google Scholar.

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Medicine, a research and academic partnership between the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School. There, I am the Associate Director of the Division of Child Health Research and Policy (CheRP). I am also on faculty in the Harvard PhD Program in Health Policy and the Harvard-Wide Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship. From 2012-2019, I was on faculty at the University of Washington in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Pharmacy.

In 2004, I received a BS in Polymer and Textile Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology where I was a President’s Scholar and ORISE Fellow. I earned my PhD in Health Policy and Decision Sciences from Harvard University in 2012 where I received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. I am a former Trustee of the Society for Medical Decision Making, am the co-Chair of the Decision Sciences for Child Health Collaborative, am a Statistical and Methods Reviewer for JAMA Network Open, and am on the Editorial Board of Applied Health Economics and Health Policy.

I am an accomplished public speaker and have given over 75 invited research and career development lectures. I am an active user of social media and advise academics on how to effectively use social media to promote their careers. I also enjoy devising clever research study acronyms.

In my free time, I enjoy sewing, exploring libraries, following Formula 1 racing (#44), and competitive storytelling.

Academic Affiliations

Assistant Professor, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute

Senior Leadership and Faculty Member, Harvard-wide Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship Program

Faculty, Harvard PhD Program in Health Policy

  • Committee for Higher Degrees in Health Policy

  • Health Policy Graduate Curricular Committee

  • Admissions Committee

Affiliate Faculty, Center for Health Decision Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH)

Affiliate Faculty, University of Washington Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy, and Economics (CHOICE) Institute

Professional Societies

Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM)

  • 2022 Co-Chair, 44th Annual N.A. Meeting [Better for Whom? Advancing Equity in Medical Decision Making]

  • 2020— Co-Chair, Decision Sciences for Child Health Collaborative

  • 2019—2022 Trustee

  • 2019—2020 Social Media Chair, North American Annual Meeting

  • 2020 Co-Chair, Digital Communications Committee

  • 2014 Abstract Reviewer

  • 2011 Member

American Heart Association

  • 2020—2021 Chair, Funding Subcommittee Working Group on Diversity & Inclusion

  • 2017—2022 Oversight Advisory Committee, Children's Strategically Focused Research Network

International Health Economics Association

American Diabetes Association

Editorial Activities

  • 2022 Editorial Board, Applied Health Economics and Health Policy

  • 2022— Statistics and Methods Reviewer, JAMA Network Open

  • Ad Hoc Reviewer: Applied Clinical Informatics, Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Behavioral Public Policy, Childhood Obesity, Health Affairs, Healthcare, International Journal of Obesity, JAMA Network Open, JAMA Pediatrics, JAMA Psychiatry, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Journal of Pediatrics, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Medical Decision Making, Medical Decision Making Policy & Practice, Obesity, Pediatrics, Pharmacoeconomics, PLOS One, Public Health Nutrition, Value in Health