Lia Martinez-Santamaria

Lia Martinez-Santamaria is a health policy researcher with experience leading mixed-methods studies that inform decision-making across the health care landscape. She specializes in research on Medicare, Medicaid, and prescription drug policy, designing and implementing studies that combine quantitative and qualitative approaches—including surveys, key informant interviews, and focus groups. Lia is skilled at engaging a wide range of stakeholders—such as patients, caregivers, providers, employers, and health system leaders—and translating complex findings into actionable insights.

Currently, Lia serves as Director of Policy and Research at Healthsperien, where she manages research initiatives that help clients address pressing health care challenges. Partnering with diverse health care entities, she applies her subject matter expertise and analytic skills to transform complex data into strategic insights that drive policy and business decisions.

Prior to joining Healthsperien, Lia was a Manager at NORC at the University of Chicago, where she led a broad portfolio of projects for public and private sector clients. Her work ranged from examining the influence of prescription drug advertising on social media and its impact on consumer and prescriber behavior to analyzing the growth of for-profit entities in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

Lia holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and a Bachelor of Science in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University.