Faculty
Michelle Pleasant, PhD.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Instruction
Office: MHC1319
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Dr. Pleasant’s research interests include gerontology, health care delivery and payment
reform, Medicare policy, dementia care, and clinical quality measurement.
She previously served as a Research Scientist supporting the Physician-Focused Payment
Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) under the Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). She was part of the team responsible for the planning
and development of environmental scans, reports to the Secretary, recruitment of subject
matter experts, and creation of annual PTAC public meeting materials.
Dr. Pleasant was also an Associate Director and Health Services Researcher on the
Impact Assessment of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality and
Efficiency Measures project. She oversaw the research, planning, and delivery of high-visibility
research and policy work, such as the Measure Development Plan (MDP) Environmental
Scan and Gap Analysis Report and the Annual Report. This project synthesized information
gathered from federal rules, measure stewards, and CMS project and measure leads.
Her previous research focused on vulnerable populations, including older adults with
dementia, residents of nursing homes, and persons taking antipsychotic medications,
for which she led the study design, data collection, analysis, and IRB approval. During
this time, she conducted and published multiple studies, including a systematic review
and assessment of dementia caregiver training.