ISA Group

Advancing Health Science Through Innovation

Team

ISA’s experienced team has provided testimony to committees of the U.S. Congress, delivered keynote addresses at conferences worldwide, and received recognition for numerous technological advances in the health informatics field. In recent years, having received more than $40 million from the National Institutes of Health, our energies have been focused on developing and rigorously evaluating a range of technologically advanced health solutions, many of which are currently being used by organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

ISA's team has expertise in several behavioral health and biostatistics disciplines.

Principal Staff

Founder
Royer F. Cook, PhD.

Dr. Royer Cook has over thirty years of senior experience in the design and direction of health and promotion and disease prevention programs. He has designed, implemented and evaluated programs in the areas of stress management, substance abuse prevention, weight management and nutrition, exercise, smoking cessation and healthy aging. In recent years, his work has focused on the development of online programs that combine the latest advances in information technology with the central principles of health behavior change. Dr. Cook has been the recipient of numerous grants from NIH, and is the author of more than 100 publications and a frequent presenter at conferences here and abroad.

President and Senior Research Scientist
Douglas W. Billings, Ph.D.

Dr. Billings is a clinical psychologist focusing on technology solutions to reduce health disparities among African Americans.  Dr. Billings has been the Principal Investigator on a number of NIH grants examining the capability of different platforms (e.g., computer-based, tablets) to efficiently and effectively assess, prevent, and treat HIV. In recent years, his work has focused on mobile solutions that can deliver patient-centered outcomes for African Americans who lack access to comprehensive, quality health care services.

Senior Research Scientist
Diane Deitz, Ph.D.

Dr. Diane Deitz is a health psychologist and a registered nurse with more than two decades of experience in the areas of cardiovascular health, substance abuse prevention, and caregiver health. Dr. Deitz has been the Principal Investigator on several major grants from NIH, developing and testing advanced online health programs, including Smart Rx, a guide to safe use of psychoactive prescription drugs; Heart Healthy, a program designed to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease; and Caregiver SmartTools, designed to provide support and guidance to caregivers.

Vice President and Senior Research Scientist
Samantha Leaf, Ph.D.

Dr. Leaf is a social psychologist whose main research interests are in the areas of health disparities, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, and women’s health. Over the past decade, her work has focused on developing technology-based behavioral health interventions. She has served as the Principal Investigator on two NIH-funded SBIR Phase II projects designed to prevent HIV among African American women and men by introducing female condoms as a viable prevention strategy. More recently, her research has aimed to evaluate the viability of mobile platforms to reach, educate, and empower underrepresented populations in the service of positive health behavior change.

Director of the Center for Wellness and Health and Research Scientist
Debra Rios, DrPH

Dr. Debra Rios is a behavioral scientist whose main research interests focus on health equity for Hispanic/Latino populations. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and has previously worked across a variety public health domains including school health, worksite wellness, and health policy. Dr. Rios has served as the Principal Investigator on multiple NIH-funded SBIR Phase I and II projects designed to improve the health of Hispanic/Latino populations through healthy living promotion, diabetes prevention, and stress management.