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Alana Knudson, Ph.D.

Dr. Alana D. Knudson is an assistant professor at the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota (UND), School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks, ND.

In her position, Dr. Knudson conducts health services research examining access, quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Ultimately, these findings are used to provide information to assist in the development of health policy. Her research interests also include health economics, international health development, and information technology. In addition to research, she teaches epidemiology and biostatistics for the physician assistant program at the UND medical school and for the nursing graduate program.

Dr. Knudson recently completed a five-year project as the assistant director of the North Dakota - Turkmenistan Partnership Program, housed in the UND College of Nursing. The project's primary goal was to develop and establish a primary care training center for physicians and nurses in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The curriculum developed through this project serves as a model for other countries in the former Soviet Union and in Central Asia.

Prior to her return "home" to North Dakota, she served as the senior director for public health information and infrastructure policy at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASHTO) in Washington, DC, where she contributed to the development of national public health policies relating to information technology, performance standards, workforce, and preparedness. Her prior experiences as a researcher for the North Dakota Task Force, a project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and for the North Dakota Department of Health stimulated her interest in using health data to develop effective policy. She has presented at numerous local, state, national and international forums.