Additionally, the HSR team possesses experience in health care delivery and finance, maternal and child health, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and community health. In addition to being experts in their fields, HSR's staff members have effective consulting skills, including facilitation of collaborative processes, project management, policy analysis, qualitative and quantitative research, and evaluation.

Loren Bell leads HSR's WIC Services team. Mr. Bell, HSR's Deputy Director of the Food Assistance and Nutrition Division, is a nationally known expert in food assistance program policy and program operations. He has more than 25 years' experience working with WIC at the national, state, and local levels.

Under Mr. Bell's leadership, HSR has emerged as a leading provider of technical assistance and evaluation services in WIC. Mr. Bell has managed a number of projects, including an examination of the food purchasing patterns of WIC clients, three nutrition education technical assistance and evaluation projects, a national study of WIC vendor management practices, and a needs assessment of adolescents participating in the WIC program. Additionally, Mr. Bell has directed a number of technical assistance projects to improve state WIC program data and management systems.

For 11 years, Mr. Bell directed the Washington State WIC program. He received three national awards from the USDA for this work. Mr. Bell also was president of the National Association of WIC Directors and held senior management positions in the California Department of Health. He holds a bachelor's degree in communications and has completed graduate studies in business and organizational communications.

Other team members include:

Chris Miller
Mr. Miller brings his skills in program analysis and evaluation, as well as his training as a Registered Dietitian, to a number of HSR projects that center on Federal food assistance programs. Mr. Miller has worked on multiple WIC projects with HSR, including providing technical assistance with program management improvement issues in Washington State and Virginia and analyzing vendor management practices. Additionally, Mr. Miller has experience evaluating nutrition education programs and materials.

Susan Williams
Ms. Williams serves on a number of HSR's welfare and food assistance projects involving policy analysis and program evaluation. Ms. Williams' recent work has focused on studies of welfare reform and how welfare policy changes have affected a variety of programs, including the Food Stamp Program and Medicaid. Ms. Williams has participated in the design of both qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments, including protocols for focus groups, case study site visits, and telephone surveys. Ms. Williams' WIC experience has focused on analyzing vendor management practices.

Brooke Hardison
Ms. Hardison conducts research analysis in a variety of poverty and hunger policy areas, and has extensive knowledge on such topics as WIC, welfare reform, the Food Stamp Program, and the TANF program. Prior to joining HSR, Ms. Hardison gained vast experience in analysis of public health programs that target poor, underserved populations through various student research positions within the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Through these positions, Ms. Hardison gained experience in data management, qualitative and quantitative research techniques, project supervision, focus group data analysis, and identification of cultural, religious, and social barriers to health program participation.