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Michael G. Luxenberg, Ph.D. – President and CEO
Dr. Luxenberg founded PDA in 1984 as a one-person firm specializing in statistical consulting for medical research studies. Under his leadership, the firm has grown to comprise two divisions: Statistics and Evaluation, specializing in web-based solutions for reporting, analyzing and collecting of data. Dr. Luxenberg is most proud of PDA's dedicated and service-oriented staff who actively engage PDA's clients in decision-making processes.
Dr. Luxenberg received a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, graduating with honors, from Pratt Institute. He worked for the National Security Agency for two years before changing career paths. He received his doctoral degree in 1986 from the Psychology Department of the University of Minnesota with a focus on Behavioral Genetics with a double minor in statistics and genetics.
Working with researchers in various medical and behavioral science fields, he has co-authored over 70 articles, which have been published in refereed journals. As principal or co-principal investigator on many large-scale research projects and evaluations, Dr. Luxenberg has also published numerous technical reports.
Since 2001, Dr. Luxenberg has been Principal Investigator for the evaluation of ClearWay Minnesota’s QUITPLAN tobacco cessation interventions and also evaluates the Hawaii tobacco cessation Quitline for the Hawaii Department of Health.
From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Luxenberg was Co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Connie Schmitz of Professional Evaluation Services and Dr. David Bass of the Benjamin Rose for the National Chronic Consortium's Alzheimer's Demonstration Project, on a national evaluation of a new model of integrated care for persons suffering from dementia. Also from 1998 to 2003, Dr. Luxenberg served as Co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Connie Schmitz on an evaluation of a teen pregnancy prevention initiative (MN ENABL) for the Minnesota Department of Health.
He is currently a participating member of American Statistical Association (ASA), American Evaluation Association (AEA), Minnesota Professional Psychologists Applied to Work (MPPAW), and a board member and officer of the Minnesota Evaluation Association (MNEA).
Julie Rainey, B.A. – Vice President
Julie has worked as an Evaluation Specialist at PDA since 1997, and has been with the firm since 1992. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Philosophy from St. Mary’s University. Julie has designed and conducted evaluations in the fields of tobacco cessation, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and teen pregnancy prevention programming. In addition to her evaluation responsibilities, Julie serves as Vice President, overseeing the firm’s human resource needs.
Julie contributes to PDA's major evaluation projects and is expert in evaluation planning, development, piloting of data collection tools, and coordinating multiple elements of large evaluation projects. She is an exceptional problem solver who loves investigating technical issues.
Julie is currently contributing to several evaluations including tobacco cessation evaluations for ClearWay Minnesota and the Hawaii Department of Health, and projects for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and the MN Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. She also presents evaluation results at national conferences and is a member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA).
Anne Betzner, Ph.D. – Vice President
Anne has been employed at PDA since 1995. She received her Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota in 1998 her PH.D. in Educational Psychology, Quantitative Methods in Education, evaluation program in 2008. Her dissertation examined mixed methods methodology in an evaluation of the impact of local, smoke-free-ordinances on tobacco users trying to quit. Anne designs, oversees and reports on formative and summative evaluations of statewide public health initiatives. She is also responsible for business development at PDA.
Anne is excellent at managing multiple complex projects and finds using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to meet clients’ evaluation needs especially interesting. She has a passion for exploring evaluation strategies and working through technical issues to produce high quality, useful results for both the client and their stakeholders. Anne is a keen observer and she always asks the right question at the right time to help clients clarify their evaluation needs.
Anne is currently the principal investigator for the evaluation of the Hawaii Tobacco Quitline and is the lead evaluator for the evaluation of the Florida Quitline. She has developed expertise in evaluation the impact of tobacco-related media campaigns. She also manages a synthesis evaluation of a suite of tobacco cessation services for ClearWay Minnesota. Anne is a member of the North America Quitline Consortium, the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, the American Evaluation Association (AEA), and the Minnesota Evaluation Association.
Traci Capesius, M.P.H. – Evaluation Specialist
Traci has been employed at PDA since 2005. She received her Master’s Degree in Public Health, focused in Community Health Education from the University of Minnesota in 2002. Traci has experience conducting formative and summative evaluations within single, multi-site and statewide community health promotion and disease prevention initiatives. She also has expertise in quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
Traci’s strengths are her patience, tenacity, thoroughness and thoughtfulness throughout the evaluation process. She carefully considers ramifications for evaluation actions, is attuned and sensitive to others, and has a great sense of humor.
Traci is currently the lead evaluator of several projects including: a community health worker (CHW) feasibility study for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, an evaluation of a new tobacco cessation “triage” center for ClearWay Minnesota, and a statewide evaluation of a fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) community grant initiative for the Minnesota Organization for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum (MOFAS). She is also a member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and the Minnesota American Evaluation Association (MNEA).
Matt Christenson, B.A. – Chief Statistician
Matt first joined PDA in 1992. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Mankato State College and did graduate work in Psychology. Matt is experienced at performing sophisticated data analysis. He specializes in multivariate analyses and hierarchical linear modeling.
Matt is skilled at framing results for extremely technical projects and presenting information simply. He is a keen observer and excels at exploring technical issues to eliminate possible problems in analysis. Matt serves as a guide for our clients, transforming mass amounts of data into meaningful, accessible results.
Matt is currently working as chief statistician on a physical activity survey for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, a school bullying survey and reporting system for Hazelden, a health promotion and level of job satisfaction study for Gillette Children’s Hospital, an objective structured clinical exam reliability and validity study for the University of Minnesota Department of Surgery, and an evaluation of a media campaign for ClearWay Minnesota.
Harlan Luxenberg, B.S. – Senior Programmer
Harlan has been working at PDA since 2005. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Educational Policy and Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Harlan designs, develops, and programs automated web-based reporting solutions for our clients. He specializes in Crystal Reports, ASP.NET, SPSS, SAS, SQL Server, Visual Basic, and VBA, but is also a pro at picking up new programming languages quickly and proficiently.
Harlan is a tenacious problem-solver who happily goes out of his way to find new and creative ways to meet our clients’ needs. He will never say that a client’s request is impossible, even when constraints imposed by a given programming language make it incredibly challenging. Harlan makes a habit out of persistently chipping away at a problem until he discovers a workable solution.
Harlan is currently developing an online version of Olweus Bullying Prevention Program Questionnaire® for the Hazelden Foundation. This survey will be given to students throughout North America and will be integrated into the automated reporting system that he developed with Matt last year. The automated reporting system produces two reports that schools can buy in order to review the results of their surveys and to compare their results with a national comparison sample.
Becky Lien, M.P.H. – Data Manager
Becky joined PDA in 2008. She received her Master’s Degree in Public Health (Epidemiology) from the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and her Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Carleton College. A former software development consultant, Becky worked for eight years developing databases and analyzing data for clients – often in the medical and healthcare industries. Prior to receiving her Master’s Degree, she spent four years as the Information Systems Administrator for a local non-profit, supporting the Research and Technology departments.
Becky has strong analytical skills and a proven aptitude for research protocol including statistics. She enjoys developing and maintaining strong working relationships with clients and co-workers. Naturally extroverted, Becky brings a unique blend of technical and people skills to PDA.
Becky supports all divisions of PDA by overseeing data processing and leading data investigations. She ensures the integrity of data used in reporting and analysis and manages the secure transfer and storage of data to and from PDA. Current clients include ClearWay Minnesota, Hawaii Quitline, Florida Department of Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, and Hennepin County.
Lija Greenseid, Ph.D. – Senior Evaluator
Lija first began working with PDA in 2004 while still in graduate school. She received her doctorate from the University of Minnesota in the Quantitative Methods in Education - Evaluation program in May of 2008. Lija has conducted evaluations and cost-benefit analyses in the fields of public health, social services, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Lija has taught graduate-level courses at the University of Minnesota in survey methods and qualitative research methods and has assisted with teaching of courses in statistics and evaluation. She is the co-author of several articles in a New Directions for Evaluation volume (forthcoming) that describes results of a three-year research study, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, which examined the relationship between involvement and the use/influence of large-scale, multi-site program evaluations. She is a regular presenter at American Evaluation Association conferences.
Lija enjoys working one-on-one with clients to help build their capacity to plan, conduct, and analyze their own data, as well as collaborating on large-scale projects that involve a partnership between clients, evaluators, and statisticians. She is a self-described “data geek” who loves interpreting data and using her well-honed writing skills to present complex findings in ways that make them understandable and meaningful to her clients.
Lija is currently working on projects for ClearWay Minnesota, the Florida Department of Health, and Gillette Children’s Hospital. She recently developed a mixed-mode survey designed to maximize response rates which will allow for more accurate assessments of key outcome indicators. She is also involved in synthesizing data across four large programs to examine the impact of the statewide smoke-free law on Minnesota tobacco users. Lija is a member of the American Evaluation Association, American Association of Public Opinion Research, American Educational Research Association, and a past board member of the Minnesota Evaluation Association. She is a 2009 recipient of a Burns “Bud” Roper Fellow Award presented to promising early career survey researchers by the American Association of Public Opinion Research.