Alison Broach, Phd Email & Phone Number

Baton Rouge, La, Us

I work for Wondros on a federally funded contract for a research program under the National Institutes of Health’s Office of the Director: All of Us Research Program. Our team works directly with federal clients and historically underserved populations, using human-centered design techniques to improve participant experiences and help grow the largest, most diverse health database in history. Our mission is to advance and grow health equity by helping expand precision medicine in the U.S. Working as a UX researcher for a federal program that collects, stores, and shares personal health information has unique research challenges that demand intensive collaboration, strategic planning, and close cooperation with the IRB. I work with colleagues to build and execute multi-stage, mixed methods projects that require constant communication with scientists and federal staff working with All of Us and the National Institutes of Health. We deliver insights that advocate for our program participants needs and directly impact the future of the program. Our research impacts everything from enrollment practices to the way we conduct ancillary studies and our plans to include pediatric participants.

In the fast-paced environment of Hanover, I worked closely with Content Directors and the qualitative research team to understand clients’ needs and conduct research that would help our clients make well-informed decisions. I uncovered and evaluated the experiences of B2B companies and product end users, using insights to generate strategic, recommended actions that improved business outcomes. I also worked with K-12 and Higher Education clients, including administration, district school board members, and educators. The insights I uncovered and recommended solutions I presented led to district-wide improvements and assisted educational institutions to build meaningful programs and retain students.

Spanish instructor at an exceptional independent school where teachers focused on nurturing the whole student by integrating modern technology and teaching platforms in classrooms and grounding pedagogy in research driven approaches to education (e.g., project based learning, flipped classrooms, etc.).

• Designed, conducted, and analyzed research recognized and funded by National Science Foundation.• Examined the impact of language loss on Indigenous family relationships in Guatemala and California. • Identified, interpreted, and synthesized relevant publications on research topics and anthropological theory into literature reviews that summarized major points and framed the significance of my work. • Built rapport with governmental, local, and educational stakeholders.• Secured permissions to conduct research in complex socio-political settings.• Employed mixed methods to collect data: surveys, elicitation, ethnography, interviewing, and UX style approaches similar to usability testing and domain modeling that center on language itself as the task being executed, observed, and mapped out in specific contexts. • Integrated multiple data types into coherent narratives for diverse audiences.• Translated research into 500+ hours of multimedia presentations, including: briefing subject matter experts on the results of my research at national conferences, facilitating and leading workshops, and running meetings. • Collected and analyzed data in collaboration with informants, including: coding field notes and audiovisual recordings, and participating in workshops and conferences centered on Indigenous rights in Guatemala.• Broke down large amounts of complex data into themes and insights. • Demonstrated ability to produce and summarize complex evidence-based, data-driven results in clearly communicated presentations and reports.

Guatemala & Los Angeles, Ca

• Innovated methods of data collection in rapidly changing, transnational environment by combining qualitative, quantitative, and ethnographic methods with language documentation techniques.• Designed and employed data collection methods such as interviews, concept mapping, participant observation, focus groups, community-led audiovisual recording, and surveys. • Solely responsible for decision-making, project oversight, participant recruitment, data collection, and analysis. • Trained assistants in data collection methods.• Elicited culturally sensitive data by building rapport and managing relationships with the community. • Drafted and managed budgets totaling $30K. Submitted progress and spending reports to funding agencies.• Identified and evaluated challenges that currently hinder Indigenous education within many state governments. • Delivered briefings on my findings to professional audiences that have altered approaches to this kind of research.

In this role, I oversaw and managed the preparation of data I collected during my doctoral fieldwork to be stored in a large language archive. This entailed converting and organizing hours of audiovisual material into written texts that were properly formatted and translated according to specific linguistic standards (i.e., interlinear glossing). Because the endangered language (Garifuna) did not have a standard written form, and because I strongly believe in including Indigenous communities as partners in the research done about them, I recruited 3 Garifuna language speakers in Belize, New York, and California to collaborate on and assist with the transcription, translation, and editing processes. I led and developed this project team remotely. I conceptualized project needs and defined action steps for accomplishing key tasks and milestones.I also organized and communicated complex data visualization models that mapped out language according to certain linguistic features and used a variety of specialized annotations. Together we constructed materials that tell some of the important stories of what it means to be a Garifuna person in Guatemala and these are now published and safely stored in the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America.

• Developed course syllabi for 8 university courses covering cultural analysis, family structure, gender diversity, linguistics, language and cognition, and sociocultural and linguistic research methodology• Trained students in ethnographic field methods, including interview strategies, survey techniques, rapid and anonymous studies, participant observation, and elicitation.• Developed research analysis skills through hands-on student projects.• Instructed students in anthropological history, theory, and research methodology.• Facilitated and directed group discussions both in the physical classroom and online settings.• Organized in-class workshops using pedagogy that facilitated self-led knowledge acquisition, allowing students to discover concepts through combination of independent effort and teamwork. For example, designed collaborative activities that allowed students to uncover complex grammatical patterns of languages such as those found in Native American language typologies.• Prepared lectures, designed student projects and assessments, and delivered multimedia presentations.• Managed student grades, tracked student progress, and counselled students on strategies for improvement.

I applied my knowledge of anthropological theory and methods to create and teach three seminars for CORE. In each seminar, I trained students in interactional strategies and ways of thinking that facilitate meaningful and ethical cross-cultural encounters while studying abroad. I evaluated seminar outcomes, and levels of student engagement and readiness, and I enhanced CORE curriculum in collaboration with other members of the instructional team.

As a Center for American English Language and Culture (CAELC) instructor, I designed and taught academic writing courses to address the particular needs of graduate students and researchers from multiple disciplinary fields and professions. This involved identifying not only different ESL learning needs based on students' own linguistic backgrounds (i.e. understanding unique learning patterns based on their native language(s)), but also understanding variations in writing styles and expectations across academic disciplines. For example, my courses addressed the English learning needs of Farsi speakers writing Chemistry lab analyses while also aiding Mandarin speakers construct History essays. I also wrote guidelines for teaching English as a Second Language in collaboration with a fellow instructor.

I was employed here for two periods during 09/2006-07/2007, and 09/2009-07/2010.I improved English competency of linguistically, ethnically, and nationally diverse bodies of students as the instructor of courses in Grammar, Reading, Speaking, Listening, and Conversation. I created educational materials to achieve target benchmarks of English competency, including monthly and weekly learning modules containing theme-based activity, assignment, and exam sets. I also collaborated with fellow instructors to improve the program’s curriculum design and testing methods. My classrooms were extremely diverse, often filled with students from 10 - 15 different countries, and many of them were just entering the university, young, and away from their home country for the first time. With this in mind, I adapted lessons to address the needs of students, particularly those undergoing significant cultural adjustment and shock.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Linguistic Anthropology

Master Of Arts (M.A.), Linguistic Anthropology

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Theater Design/Tech

Italian Language And Literature