William K. Bleser PhD, MSPH

William K. Bleser, PhD, MSPH, is Research Director of Health Care Transformation for Social Needs and Health Equity at the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy at Duke University in Washington, DC. He has contributed to the success of the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy since its first year. He is a founding member of the Duke-Margolis Institute’s Anti-Racism and Equity Committee, including chairing the subcommittee on Research Practices and Priorities. His portfolio of work includes a focus on peer-reviewed research as well as policy briefs, issue briefs, and convening and collaborating with relevant stakeholders to have real-world impact (such as being quoted in the Washington Post and cited in CMS rulemaking). This work includes empirical quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and policy analyses related to how accountable care and other alternative payment models, risk-based contracts, and delivery reform can be more whole-person focused, notably better addressing social needs and improving health equity.

Before coming to Duke, Dr. Bleser worked at the Pennsylvania State University on grant-funded research studying inequities in preventive health services, evaluating national health quality improvement efforts, and achieving change to the patient-centered medical home delivery reform model. He also previously worked for the US Department of Health and Human Services on improving adult influenza vaccine coverage and better understanding rare adverse events to influenza vaccines. He earned his PhD from the Pennsylvania State University jointly in health policy and in demography, his Master of Science in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in disease epidemiology and control, and his BS from the College of William and Mary in neuroscience.