MEDIA RELATIONS

CONTACT

Taylor (Watson) Nagle

Program Manager at I2D2
Iowa State University

I2D2 BACKGROUND

In 2015, Heather Rouse and co-founder Cassandra Dorius came together to leverage their combined three decades of experience in education, human services, public health, and integrated data systems to establish I2D2 as the state of Iowa’s first integrated data system for decision-making.

I2D2 brings together administrative data from across health, education, and social service programs; generates anonymized files for analysis to explore patterns and identify strengths and needs; and uses analytic findings in cross-agency discussions about Iowa’s pressing problems. To further I2D2’s mission, Todd Abraham was brought on the team in 2019 to direct data management, statistical analysis, and data integration for I2D2.

Reports from the U.S. Commission of Evidence-Based Policymaking have increased attention on the potential of integrated data systems to address gaps in service coordination, population-level surveillance, and service responses. With actionable intelligence derived from I2D2, state and program leaders can make powerful, targeted decisions to improve the lives of all Iowans – with a special emphasis on children and families.

Biographies

Heather Rouse, Director

Rouse brings two decades of experience studying and developing integrated data systems for policy research to her leadership of I2D2. Rouse serves multiple federal grant review panels and advisory groups and is Iowa’s representative on the National ECIDS Leadership Workgroup on Stakeholder Engagement and to the Health Research Services Administration Community of Practice Data Sharing and Use in Home Visiting Programs and Policy sponsored by Child Trends.

From 2015-2021, Rouse also served as assistant professor of human development and family studies at Iowa State University and in 2022, was promoted to Associate Professor. She was previously the director of health policy research at the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas.

Todd Abraham, Manager Data Analytics

Todd Abraham is the Manager of Data Analytics for I2D2 and leads I2D2 data integration. Abraham is a social psychologist with 13+ years of professional experience as a quantitative methodologist and applied statistician, specializing in research design, psychometrics, and advanced statistical methods. Todd has served as a project methodologist/statistician on multiple federal and state-funded projects and as a statistical consultant/analyst with colleagues in diverse disciplines, yielding a consistent history of collaborative presentations (25+) and peer-reviewed publications (20+). In his current role at I2D2, he leads data management and integration efforts using probabilistic record linkage methodologies applied to population-level administrative data from multiple state agencies.