Data + Humans = A Better World
Merakinos can be translated as “soulful thought” or “heartfelt logic.” Meraki comes from the Greek concept of pursuing something with heart, soul, and creativity. Nos refers to logical thought or knowledge that comes from deduction. Blending together human ingenuity, wisdom, and hard-earned experience with targeted analytics and the right data can help us achieve our goals faster and far more effectively – and it is at the center of all that Merakinos does.
The Woman Behind Merakinos
While Archimedes chose a lever and fulcrum, I would pick data and the right question. Properly directed analytics really can move the world. That’s why I so passionately believe in making vital data skills and tools available to everyone, whether you are starting from the beginning or seeking to take it to the next level.
I graduated from Emory University in Atlanta summa cum laude with a BS in Biology, and a honors research project that studied the interconnectedness of helpful bacteria, aphids, and ladybugs. My love of science education was cemented while I helped form and run a tutoring club for under-served high school science students.
I then hopped the Pond to earn my PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK. My dissertation studied prevalence and risk factors for animal-borne disease spillover to humans. While chasing bats across Ghana, I learned how to formulate pertinent questions and stick with it until you get the answers you need.
While at Cambridge, I also took up rowing, the most Cantabridgian sport imaginable (barring perhaps croquet…) and lost my Boat Race to that Other Place.
The next six years I spent applying my academic research experience in the healthcare industry, translating messy hospital data into actionable insights for decision-makers and care providers. By then, I was the Director of the brand new Data Center I had helped create, and had successfully launched ODHIN – an interactive visualization and analysis portal that digitized twenty years of hospital claims.
I cut my teeth in the start-up world with Data Prep U, developing in-depth training modules for Alteryx and analytics, and consulting with companies as diverse as top-five public accounting firms and small non-profits.
I’ve now started Merakinos to advance how we use data, with a special focus on those people and organizations new to the analytics space. Together we can transform the world, one data-inspired decision at a time.
Selected Publications and Presentations
Detailed analysis of the financial status of Colorado hospitals and health systems.
HCRIS-based financial and patient reports, for which my team and I analyzed and visualized the data for every hospital in Colorado.
Experimental results from a program to reduce readmissions.
A white paper on the national impact of ACA Medicaid expansion.
A popular science article on the role of bats in human disease.
The final report on an initiative to reduce dependence on opioid painkillers in hospital emergency departments for which I ran all data collection, analysis and visualization.
The text of a speech given at the annual Oxford-Cambridge dinner in Denver.
American College of Healthcare Executives
I was a panelist on the opening talk at the 2021 annual meeting for the Colorado chapter of ACHE, discussing how healthcare organizations can succeed with data and analytic.
Colorado State of Reform
I moderated a panel on how healthcare technology is becoming more culturally competent – and how it might regress – at the 2021 Colorado State of Reform conference.
Colorado Hospital Association Rural Healthcare Conference
I presented 2016, 2017, and 2018 on critical data analytics topics for the executives of Colorado’s rural hospitals. With a narrative style, I used stories of
CHIMA Annual Conference
In 2017 I presented at the Colorado chapter of Health Information Managers Association annual meeting on the essential work of HIMs in data analytics.
SIM Colorado Chapter
I was a selected speaker at the Colorado chapter of SIM, a membership of IT professionals, in 2019. I spoke about the need to achieve prescriptive analytics – analytics that help us drive decisions – and the pitfalls that can prevent us from reaching that peak.
What we stand for at merakinos
You have the power
Too often we think that analytics belongs only in the hands of data scientists and coders. But we all have valuable insight to contribute to the analytic journey.
Science for all
Asking questions and testing answers works outside the lab. In fact, it's the most efficient, effective way to improve business. And asking the right questions will maximize your ROI.
Size doesn't matter
You don't have to be a huge company, or have millions of rows of data. You just need to know where you want to go - then all you need are the few bits of data to give you the best directions.