Biography

Dr. Dirac is the Team Lead for Reproductive, Genitourinary and Digestive disease estimation for the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD) at the Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation in Seattle. In this role she leads estimation of fatal and nonfatal health loss due to viral hepatitis and its downstream consequences, and has spearheaded efforts to incorporate novel approaches to accounting for the effects of vaccination and mass treatment programs in viral hepatitis estimation within the GBD framework. She also participates in international collaborations to compare data sources, definitions and methods to harmonize and improve viral hepatitis estimation across multiple institutions. She is an Acting Assistant Professor in the University of Washington Dept of Health Metrics and holds a joint appointment in the Dept of Family medicine, where she practices and teaches residents.

Prior to joining the UW faculty, she practiced in a network of community health centers serving predominantly poor and migrant patients. Her research prior to joining IHME focused on acute and chronic respiratory infections, with diverse methods from molecular epidemiology, case-control and environmental field studies, and quantitative and qualitative methods for assessing patient and provider attitudes toward point-of-care testing.