We help organizations articulate their goals and guide them on the path to achieving them.
Most clients come to Data-Driven knowing what they want but not quite how to get there.
Sometimes that means designing a research study from scratch. Sometimes it means finding the right data source, building the right data collection instruments, or figuring out what kind of analysis will actually answer the question at hand. Sometimes it means stepping back further and asking: what is the real question you are trying to answer and why?
That last question is the one Dr. Leslie Phillips asks every client, regardless of the engagement. Whether we are designing research, providing scientific guidance for a legal case, or helping a team produce scientific writing that reaches the right audience, her starting point is always the same: what does your organization actually need to know, and what will change once you know it?
Dr Phillips helps clients articulate their north star, and, at times, even challenges it. Her goal is to establish clarity of purpose before a single instrument is designed, a single report is written, or a single piece of testimony is prepared.
Why Organizations Choose Dr. Phillips
One expert. Every kind of scientific challenge.
Few consultants combine rigorous epidemiological training with direct experience in legal proceedings, clinical research, and scientific writing. Dr. Leslie Phillips does. Organizations choose Dr. Phillips for research consulting because she brings the same scientific discipline to practical questions and survey research as she does to a peer-reviewed research study.
They also choose her for the breadth of problems she has tackled, spanning public health emergencies, legal cases, and research design across a wide range of industries. Dr. Phillips believes that great ideas get better with scrutiny. For this reason, she works alongside a team of researchers, statisticians, and collaborators, bringing additional rigor, depth, and capacity to the work without compromising the rigor of her direct involvement.
About Dr. Phillips
Twenty years of epidemiology, applied accross every field that needs it.
Hometown: Houston, TX Based in: Seattle, WA Years in the field: 20+ Research philosophy: “It’s an empirical question!” Fuel: Coffee; fluent in Barista since relocating to Seattle Most serious about: Daily touchpoints with friends and family and her little white dog Hidden talent: Portrait photographer; occasionally gets a lucky shot
EDUCATION & AFFILIATIONS:
PhD, Epidemiology University of Washington
MS, Public Health Harvard University
​
Member AAAS - American Association for the Advancement of Science
Member SER - Society for Epidemiologic Research
​​​
Dr. Leslie Phillips is an epidemiologist, researcher, and scientific consultant. Drawing on her doctoral training in epidemiology, Dr. Phillips has spent more than two decades working accross public health, workplace safety, clinical research, and legal consultation, bringing the same epidemiological rigor to a small nonprofit's data strategy as to expert testimony in a high-stakes legal proceeding. She has collaborated with municipal governments, film studios, labor organizations, health care providers, and startups, and Dr. Phillips has published in peer-reviewed journals across multiple fields. Originally from Houston, she arrived in Seattle as a research assistant and, despite the dire dearth of Tex-Mex cuisine, never left. If you are navigating a research challenge, a legal case, or a body of work that needs to reach further, Dr. Phillips has probably seen a version of it before, and she would love to help you find your way through it.
Our Team
Carla Irizarry-Delgado
Epidemiology and Research Consultant
Carla holds a Master of Public Health from Boston University and is an incoming epidemiology PhD student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Data-Driven LLC, she specializes in cancer research and quantitative methods. Carla’s favorite hobbies include reading detective fiction and listening to music. A native Floridian and Puerto Rican, she thrives in warm weather and is sincerely looking forward to milder winters in North Carolina.
Sarah Vlajic
Biostatistician
Sara Vlajic, MS, is a biostatistician with 5+ years of experience guiding research from study design through analysis and interpretation. Her work spans patient- to institution-level data from health records, surveys, trials, and administrative sources, with an emphasis on transparent, equitable methods. She’s the rare person who gets excited about a clean dataset—and a little too invested in a messy one. A Colorado native turned PNW resident, Sara also enjoys hiking, reading, photography, and making hot sauce.
Emma Gace
Research Associate
Emma Gace is an epidemiological subcontractor for Data-Driven LLC. Holding a Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington, Emma worked for the California Department of Public Health’s Vaccines for Children Program. She is now pursuing her Master’s in Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. While in LA, when not thinking about epidemiology, she enjoys baking, exploring the outdoors, and sitting in traffic.
Publications
Dr. Leslie Phillips' commitment to rigor extends beyond client work; she has contributed to the broader scientific record through peer-reviewed publication.
A few highlights:
Comparative Effectiveness of mRNA-1273 and BNT162b2 COVID-19 Vaccines in Immunocompromised Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Using the GRADE Framework
Xuan Wang, Katrin Haeussler, Anne Spellman, Leslie E. Phillips, Allison Ramiller, Mary T. Bausch-Jurken, Pawana Sharma, Anna Krivelyova, Sonam Vats, Nicolas Van de Velde
medRxiv 2023.04.05.23288195; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.04.05.23288195
Leslie E Phillips, Paul Dhillon, Andrew Kotas, Renee Kusler, Jeffrey Shih, Juliane Kause. Film production during the Covid-19 pandemic, Occupational Medicine, 2022;, kqac102, https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqac102
Hansell AK, Knaster ES, Phillips LE. Injury Among Home Care Workers in Washington State. New Solut. 2018 Feb;27(4):543-588. doi: 10.1177/1048291117739419. Epub 2017 Nov 7. PMID:29110559. link to abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29110559/
Schoenfisch AL, Lipscomb H, Phillips LE. Safety of union home care aids in Washington State. Am J Ind Med. 2017 Sep;60(9):798-810. doi: 10.1002/ajim.22747. Epub 2017 Jul 26. PMID: 28744929. link to abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28744929/
Knaster ES, Fretts AM, Phillips LE. The association of depression with diabetes management among urban American Indians/Alaska Natives in the United States, 2011. Ethn Dis. 2015 Winter;25(1):83-9. PMID: 25812257. link to abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25812257/
Jacobs-Wingo JL, Espey DK, Groom AV, Phillips LE, Haverkamp DS, Stanley SL. Causes and Disparities in Death Rates Among Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Populations, 1999-2009. Am J Public Health. 2016 May:106(5):906-14. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.303033. Epub 2016 Feb 18. PMID:26890168; PMCID: PMC4985112. link to abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26890168/