Comparative Effectiveness and Clinical Outcomes Research Center (CECORC)

Timothy Allison-Aipa, Ph.D., is a research specialist who joined the Comparative Effectiveness and Clinical Outcomes Research Center (CECORC) team in June of 2020. In 1999, Tim earned his Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from Alliant International University. Tim has 25 years of research experience, including 15 as a civilian and 10 as an active duty service member (rank of Major) within the United States Army Reserves as a Research Psychologist. While on active duty, Tim was the first author of two journal articles focused on psychological health of U.S. Army soldiers. With CECORC, Tim is primarily investigating postoperative outcomes by time to surgery and procedure in addition to 30-day readmission by emergency general surgery diseases. Tim is most proud of his three children, Lauren, Matthew and Micah.

Lisa Chan is the Coordinator for the Comparative Effectiveness and Clinical Outcomes Research Center (CECORC). She joined the County of Riverside in 2016 as a Medical Staff Coordinator. In March of 2018, Lisa had the opportunity to join a fantastic team with a common interest in research. A natural extrovert, she truly enjoys being able to interact with, and assist prospective researchers, physicians, medical students, co-workers, the public, and anyone else she has the opportunity to work with. On her days off, Lisa enjoys spending time with her two little ones, traveling, cooking, hiking, and getting together with friends.

Chris Firek, Research Specialist II, began his work in the field of research as a volunteer at the Veteran’s Administration. He joined the Comparative Effectiveness and Clinical Outcomes Research Center (CECORC) at RUHS as he shares the vision and potential for a comprehensive research center, and the opportunity to work with an underserved and understudied population that can benefit greatly from a better understanding of their challenges. His project experience ranges from sponsored drug trials in heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, post-ACS, diabetes, and ulcerative colitis, as well as device trials in heart failure. He has also served as a lead coordinator in funded investigator-initiated projects that targeted improving medication adherence. As research continues to move forward and incorporate the technological leaps and bounds that continue to change the world, Chris endeavors to help RUHS continue to grow and establish itself as a key research center in Riverside County.

Matt Firek is a Research Specialist I at Riverside University Health System Medical Center. After earning a B.S. in chemical biology from UC Berkeley, he has been working in research for the past 8 years, from bench work to clinical trials to data analysis. Currently he is focused on mining insights from national scale databases about the comparative effectiveness of different treatments.

Sheila Gilbert, LVN, is the SCR/NSQIP Registry Site Manager for CECORC. She obtained her License in Vocational Nursing from Summit Career College in Colton California. Sheila is currently a Surgical Clinical Reviewer and Program Site Manager for the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program for Riverside University Health System. Sheila has 19 years of nursing experience, 15 at RUHS working in surgical specialties unit, medical surgical units, outpatient clinics, Infection Control and Department of Research.

Ana Lopez is a Research Specialist II at RUHS Comparative Effectiveness and Clinical Outcomes Research Center (CECORC). Ana joined the CECORC team in November 2019. Her prior role was with Riverside County Public Health, and has been passionately working for Riverside County for 25 years. Ana brings proficiency and knowledge of data management and utilization when reviewing, collecting, logging and extracting data which enables creation of various data reports. In her free time she enjoys crafting plus traveling and plans on visiting all the wonders of the world.

Kristi Vaughn, MBA, CCRP is the manager of the Comparative Effectiveness and Clinical Outcomes Research Center. She joined the research team at Riverside University Health System in early 2019. Kristi has over 10 years’ experience as a clinical trial/research site manager and 30 years in healthcare. Kristi collaborates with RUHS faculty, staff and students, along with external partners, to facilitate clinical trials and academic research. Kristi is a graduate of the University of California, Riverside and Brandman University. She is a native of southern California and a longtime resident of the Inland Empire.

Bishoy Zakhary is a research specialist in the Comparative Effectiveness and Clinical Outcomes Research Center (CECORC), where he has expanded his bio-statistical skills for the last three years. A graduate with an MPH from Loma Linda University, Bishoy dedicated his studies to Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics. He has extensive experience in data management and statistical analysis. With proficient utilization of Excel, SPSS, and SAS, Bishoy is able to apply his statistical skills in analyzing pilot to large datasets. Such skills include, but are not limited to, univariate analysis using chi-squared, ANOVA, pairwise comparisons hypothesis testing, general linear model, Binomial and Logistic Regression analyses, and Complex sample analyses for large survey data.

In his spare time, Bishoy works to expand his statistical skill set through data camp online courses in SQL and R Programming. Bishoy hopes to continue improving and expanding his skill set while assisting in the increase of research efforts within Riverside University Health Systems as a key research center in Riverside County