Leah Emerick is the Senior Continuous Improvement (CI) Specialist in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (oVCR). This role was created in the Spring of 2021 with the expressed purpose of guiding the implementation of a continuous improvement program in the oVCR to enable discovery, drive transformation, and increase the collective impact of research practices and operations at CU Anschutz.

Leah is a lean-trained continuous improvement practitioner, returning to CU with 15 years of experience working in research, public health, and healthcare. In her previous work at CU Anschutz, Leah was a Senior PRA and Certified Clinical Research Professional working as the Perinatal Research Facilitation Coordinator in the Department of OB-GYN. In that role, she supported numerous clinical trials within the department of OB-GYN, the Department of Pediatrics, the School of Public Health, and the Department of Nursing. Because of the collaborative nature of the work, her position was funded by the Department of OB-GYN, the CCTSI, and COMIRB. In her most recent work as a CI practitioner at Denver Health, Leah served as an instructor in the Denver Health Lean Academy and as a coach to numerous operational and clinical teams —including Research Operations, the Sponsored Projects & Research Office, and Patient Experience. Leah also served as a project guide for dozens of improvement initiatives at Denver Public Health and Denver Health. Leah has succeeded in her work by taking a customer-focused approach to improvement, leading with humility, viewing issues with a health equity lens, and continually challenging the status quo.

As the CI program begins to take shape in the oVCR, Leah is eager to connect with you to learn more about the work you do and to offer support as needed. She is currently available to provide several new support services to oCVR teams and individuals:

• Project guidance as teams identify and lead internal improvement work
• CI education* and training
• Ad hoc coaching
• Strategic support  

*In partnership with the Office of Learning and Development, Leah will be facilitating several instructor lead trainings in Skillsoft, including CI Fundamentals, CI Tools, and CI Understanding the Current State. Please stay tuned as additional dates will be added in the hope to accommodate oVCR learners.