Kelly Dunham

Kelly Dunham is Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), a leading funder of healthcare research in the United States. 

In this role, she manages the operational aspects of the Science portfolio to meet PCORI’s strategic goals, including research strategy, portfolio development, and portfolio synthesis and communication. As part of PCORI’s efforts to maximize the impact of research, she represents the organization in the Ensuring Value in Research (EViR) Funders’ Forum, a collaborative effort with other US and international funders to improve efficiency in biomedical research.

Dunham joined PCORI in 2013. Prior to her current role, she served as Senior Manager, Research Synthesis, in the Office of the Chief Science Officer, where she worked with the Chief Science Officer and program staff to identify strategic topic areas and oversee the development and implementation of focused funding opportunities. Dunham also served as a Program Officer in the CER Methods and Infrastructure Program, where she managed PCORI’s portfolio of projects focused on developing methods related to patient and stakeholder engagement and patient-centered outcomes in comparative effectiveness research.

Prior to joining PCORI, Dunham spent several years conducting primary research at the Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit at the University of Michigan, and the Center for Health Policy/Center for Primary Care Outcomes Research (CHP/PCOR) at Stanford University.

Dunham received a BA in anthropology from Indiana University and a Masters in Public Policy (MPP)  from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.