Some researchers begin with a question they want to answer. Others begin with a disease they want to study. For Ken Nieser, the driving force has always been understanding what health data can reveal about the quality of care people receive and how that information can be used to improve outcomes.

"I really enjoy taking the data that we have access to and applying statistical models to try and make sense of that data and answer questions," says Nieser, an investigator with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He also holds an instructor-affiliated position with Stanford's Surgical Systems, Policy, Implementation, Economics, and Research Center (S-SPIRE).

Nieser's desire to translate numbers into meaningful insights and passion to make a difference with his knowledge took him down the path of epidemiology and health services research, where statistics, policy, and patient care intersect.

His journey began when he was looking for ways to use the analyzing skills he had developed at Swarthmore College, with a Bachelor of Arts in physics and mathematics, and University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a PhD in epidemiology. That experience made him familiar with analyzing data from electronic health records and claims data, and so it was a natural fit for him to continue doing that work in health services.

In 2023, he started a post-doctoral position in Stanford School of Medicine and the VA right after his PhD, so it provided him with an ideal environment for that work. With access to data from veterans receiving care across the country, Nieser gained the ability to study healthcare delivery on a national scale. At his post-doctoral position, Nieser found himself surrounded by researchers interested in colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer screening outcomes, which led him to focus on colorectal cancer screening in his career development award.

Neiser recently received a career development award from the VA is a five-year award where he will look at colorectal cancer screening and the differences in colorectal cancer screening across the VA. His main focus is to see why there are differences between patient groups. This will require him to interview patients and primary care providers to get different insights into colorectal cancer screening. This is known as qualitative research, which is a new area for him.

He is excited to bring together data and patient stories. By examining both the numbers and the human experiences behind them, he hopes to help healthcare systems better serve the patients who depend on them.