Staff

Executive Director/CEO
Tim Knettler, M.B.A., C.A.E.
703-738-8160

Mr. Knettler has over 20 year's executive level experience in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He has provided strategic planning, global strategies, transition (Interim) management, revenue/membership growth, public policy/advocacy, and other leadership expertise to associations and other non-profit and government organizations. He is the main contact for new initiatives and works closely with our federal partners, colleagues, and multiple associations to inform the public mental health system through our research and analytical capacities.

Senior Director of Government & Commercial Research
Ted Lutterman
703-738-8164

Mr. Lutterman has more than 20 years of experience working directly with state mental health authorities developing, compiling, analyzing, and using performance measures and data on mental health services, finances, and outcomes. He leads NRI's State Profiling System, the State Data Infrastructure Coordinating Center, and the Olmstead Data Pilot.

Senior Director of Performance & Quality Improvement
Glorimar Ortiz, PhD, MS.
703-738-8168

Glorimar Ortiz, M.S., Ph.D., previously served as the Principal Biostatistician at NRI. With more than 15 years experience, she is an expert in statistical matters and has lead the research agenda for a behavioral performance measurement system comprised of data submitted by inpatient psychiatric hospitals participating in common measures of quality of care. She works extensively demonstrating the scientific acceptability of an inpatient consumer survey. 

Senior Behavioral Health Advisor
Lisa Clements, Ph.D
703-738-8160

Director of Business Technology
Dr. Robin Alston
703-738-8177

Dr. Alston has decades of experience with internet start-up companies designing and deploying on-premise and cloud-based information technology solutions throughout organizations. He holds multiple degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from The University of Wales Swansea.

Controller
Anu Garg, CPA
703-738-8186

Program Manager/HIPAA Compliance Officer
Delia Singleton
703-738-8178

Lead Research Analyst
Emma White
703-738-8011

Data Analyst of PQI Division
Jakayla Ford 
703-738-8176

Full Stack Developer
Kamal Kohli, B.E.
703-738-8192

Associate Director of Government Programs
Kristin Neylon, M.A.
703-738-8174

Research Associate
Faysal Shaikh
703-738-8169

Clinical Quality Educator
Brijette Morris, L.C.S.W., C.A.A.D.C.
703-738-8184

Senior Research Associate
Robert Shaw, M.A.
703-738-8171

Associate Director of Consulting & Development
Mihran Kazandjian
703-738-8167

Senior Research Associate
Adrienne Wallace
703-738-8163

Research and Development Associate
Christian Hyde
703-738-8175

Senior Research Associate, Criminal Justice
Erin Bauer, MA

Ms. Bauer has over 15 years of experience conducting qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research in the fields of criminal justice and behavioral health, with expertise related to study design, project planning, instrument development, qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, and the dissemination of findings to diverse stakeholders. Her current work at NRI focuses on exploring trauma assessment practices for persons who are incarcerated and addressing trauma experienced by staff in carceral settings. Prior to joining NRI, Ms. Bauer was a Senior Research Associate for a research organization in the behavioral health group and conducted many evaluations, including leading an evaluation of reentry programming for youth returning to their home communities from residential placement. Ms. Bauer has developed recommendations for system improvements for federal and state agencies and has provided both virtual and on-site technical assistance on successful implementation of those recommendations. Further, she has worked extensively with stakeholders to facilitate data sharing and collaboration on research projects.

Data Analyst
Andrea Correa
703-738-8172

Office Manager
Ling Eng
703-738-8173

NRI Senior Consultant
Steven Dettwyler

Dr. Dettwyler has more than 35 years in the behavioral health field.  His work has encompassed services and supports at the local (Texas), state (Delaware) and federal level (SAMHSA) and included such diverse responsibilities as overseeing the implementation of evidence-based practices, developing and monitoring a community system of care to comply with a US Department of Justice Olmstead Settlement Agreement, to implementing a Medicaid 1915 Demonstration Waiver to expand community-based services. Dr. Dettwyler has worked as a public health officer, public health analyst and a Contracting Officer Representative (COR) in the Center for Mental Health Services at SAMHSA.  He has served as a senior consultant at NRI since 2023 to support NASMHPD and its Transformation Transfer Initiative (TTI).In addition to his work on the TTI, he is a subject matter expert on various federally funded projects including OLMSTEAD, SAMHSA’s URS data set, the ESMI-TA Center.  

Senior Consultant
Vera Hollen, M.A.

Ms. Hollen has over 20 years of experience working with mental health systems in multi-site projects, policy analysis, strategic planning, performance measurement, and quality improvement activities. She is the Director of NRI’s Mental Health-Criminal Justice Research Center.

NRI Consultant
Tammala Watkins

NRI Consultant
Joshua C. Nation

Joshua C. Nation worked for the NRI PQI division for 9 years providing facilities assistance with their data needs before moving into the education sector. He has experience working with state psychiatric facilities ensuring that facilities meet their data submission requirements for The Joint Commission ORYX Initiative and the CMS Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program.

NRI Senior Consultant, Professor Emeritus, Criminology & Criminal Justice at The University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bill Fisher, PhD

William H. Fisher, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Criminology and Criminal Justice at The University of Massachusetts Lowell and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Fisher received his Ph.D. in sociology from Northeastern University and was a Christopher Walker Post-Doctoral Fellow in Mental Health Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. His chief areas of interest are the intersection of the mental health and criminal justice systems, mental health law, and statistics and research design. 

NRI Senior Consultant
David Morrissette, Ph.D., LCSW

While at the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Dr. Morrissette designed and launched programs for communities and states to transform systems and implement peer support, trauma-informed care, supported employment, crisis services, jail diversion, and the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). Since retiring from the federal service, he consulted SAMHSA on its CCBHC criteria update, released in March 2023, and participates in review panels of applications for grants to establish or expand jail diversion, crisis services, and CCBHCs. He has served as a senior consultant at NRI since 2019 to support NASMHPD and its Transformation Transfer Initiative (TTI) projects on establishing and expanding electronic service registries, comprehensive crisis services, and jail diversion programs.

NRI Senior Consultant, Former Associate Director of Decision Support, Evaluation and Services, DMH, IL
Mary Smith, PhD

Mary Smith, PhD, formerly with the Illinois Division of Mental Health, has extensive experience in decision support, state performance measurement initiatives, and in implementing Management Information Systems for mental health. Dr. Smith has expertise in services and evaluation research, as well as the use of data for planning and decision support.

NRI Senior Consultant, Former NE SBHA Commissioner
Scot Adams, PhD, LCSW, LMHP

Scot Adams is  the former director of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Behavioral Health and a senior consultant at the NASMHPD Research Institute.

In 2007, he was appointed by Governor Dave Heineman, representing the state of Nebraska in developing its behavior health systems of care. He authored, and lobbied for, policies that helped drive Nebraska's public behavioral health systems of care.