Institute Leadership and Staff

Dr. Bohnert is a Professor at the University of Michigan in the Departments of Anesthesiology (primary), Psychiatry, and Epidemiology. She is co-Director of the Michigan Opioid Collaborative, which seeks to improve access and quality of treatment for opioid use disorders throughout Michigan through community outreach and clinician education. Dr. Bohnert focuses her research on epidemiology and brief interventions regarding chronic pain, opioid misuse, overdose, substance use and related disorders. Learn more about Dr. Bohnert

Dr. Brummett is the Bert N LaDu Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Brummett is also the Co-Director of the Overdose Prevention Engagement Network (OPEN) at the University of Michigan, which aims to apply a preventative approach to the opioid epidemic in the US through appropriate prescribing after surgery, dentistry, and emergency medicine. Dr. Brummett’s research interests include predictors of acute and chronic post-surgical pain and failure to derive benefit for interventions for interventions and surgeries primarily performed to treat pain. Dr. Brummett is specifically interested in the impact of a fibromyalgia-like or nociplastic pain phenotype on outcomes. Learn more about Dr. Brummett

Dr. Dahlem is a family nurse practitioner whose clinical focus has been delivering primary care services for complex care populations particularly for people experiencing homelessness. Learn more about Dr. Dahlem

Dr. Perumalswami is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Michigan, Director of the Liver Clinic and a Staff Gastroenterologist at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and Investigator in Center for Clinical Management Research in the VA Health Services Research and Development. Learn more about Dr. Perumalswami

Dr. Kao-Ping Chua is a primary care pediatrician and health policy researcher in the Department of Pediatrics and the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center at the University of Michigan Medical School. Learn more about Dr. Chua

Dr. Pooja Lagisetty is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and practicing physician with a focus on addressing access barriers and developing interventions to better treat chronic pain and addiction across medical settings. Learn more about Dr. Lagisetty

Kate Barnes joined the University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) in January 2022. Her responsibilities include working with OVPR units and leadership to create and implement a strategic communications plan for programs and projects, including website development, content creation, media relations, and external stakeholder engagement. Her primary units are the Opioid Research Institute, the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, and ARPA-H. Prior to joining OVPR, Kate served as Logistics Director for Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II (2019-2022), and Communications Specialist at a Lansing lobbying firm (2013-2019). Kate holds a B.S. in Journalism from Central Michigan University.

Beth Sprang joined the Opioid Research Institute as the Administrative / Project Coordinator in July 2023. She leads the planning efforts for the institute’s Coffee Connections presentation series for internal faculty and research staff, as well as coordinates the details of campus visits for our guests from other institutions who are invited to speak in our Visiting Faculty Lecture Series. She also provides assistance with grant submissions and participates in strategic planning and setting long-term goals for the institute. Prior to this role, she worked for the central office of the University’s research enterprise, the Office of the Vice President for Research, where she provided general administrative support to the entire department as well as temporary executive support to the Senior Director of Research Development and the Executive Director of Research Security. 

John Syrjamaki joined the Opioid Research Institute as the Senior Manager of Data Strategy and Analytics in January 2024. He is responsible for the strategic direction of all data and analytic operations and leads efforts in growing internal and external partnerships with other data analytic and research teams to achieve the priorities of the Institute. John is focused on utilizing a variety of data sources, novel data linkages, and robust analytic approaches to generate actionable insights that directly address the opioid epidemic.

Prior to joining the Institute, John held multiple leadership roles in data analytics within the healthcare insurance, consulting, and academic sectors. Notably, he spent 7 years at the University of Michigan working for the Michigan Value Collaborative (MVC), a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM)-funded Collaborative Quality Initiative (CQI) with a mission to improve the health of Michigan through sustainable, high-value healthcare. John was responsible for all analytic services, data operations, and performance reporting for the collaborative which encompassed greater than 100 hospitals and 40 physician organizations across Michigan.

John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology from Michigan State University and a Master of Public Health degree in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Michigan.

Hsiang-Ching Huang joined the Opioid Research Institute as a Data Analyst in  September 2024. In this role, she is responsible for data management,  programming, and analysis using administrative claims, electronic medical  records, and surveillance data. She manages and links these data sources to  support novel research, using various statistical packages to summarize and  interpret results, contributing to efforts to address the opioid epidemic. Before  joining ORI, Hsiang-Ching was a Research Assistant at Weill Cornell Medicine,  where she contributed to research on health inequities, drug utilization, and  injection-related infections. She holds a Master of Science in Health Policy and  Economics from Weill Cornell Medicine and a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy  from Taipei Medical University.