Full Name
Besa H. Bauta, Ph.D., MPH, MSW
Job Title
Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Office of Data & System Improvement
Company
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
Speaker Bio
Besa H. Bauta, Ph.D., MPH, MSW
Chief Data and Analytics Officer | Office of Data and System Improvement | Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
Dr. Besa Bauta is the Chief Data and Analytics Officer for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Office of Data and System Improvement, where she oversees data, analytics, data science, and digital transformation initiatives, and manages the data assets for a 2.5-billion-dollar state division. Previously she served as the Chief Data Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Information Security Officer of MercyFirst, an organization that provides health and mental health services for clients in NYC and Long Island. As the divisional lead for the Research, Evaluation, Analytics, and Compliance for Health (REACH) at MercyFirst, she oversaw data integration technology, infrastructure development, research, evaluation, and analytics. She also served as the Chief Analytics Officer for Precision Human Services and was one of the founders of the Social Impact AI Lab (SIAIL), whose goal is to support the digital transformation of the human service sector. SIAIL won the national Social Determinants of Health Innovation Challenge sponsored by the Robert Wood Jonson Foundation in 2020 and was a finalist in the NYU Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship 2021 challenge under her guidance. Dr. Bauta was also the Research Director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) community-based education project in Afghanistan and the Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at the Center for Evidence-Based Implementation and Research (CEBIR) at Catholic Guardian Services.
Dr. Bauta is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New York University and teaches both public health and social work at the graduate and doctoral levels. She holds a Ph.D. from NYU with training in Health Services and Implementation Science, an MPH in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention from NYU College of Global Public Health, and an MSW in Clinical Social Work from NYU Silver School of Social Work. Dr. Bauta has Psychoanalytic training from the Institute of Psychoanalytic Education, NYU Langone School of Medicine, Division of Psychiatry, and a BA from Rutgers University with training in Evolutionary Anthropology, and Biomedical Engineering. She served as the Associate Editor for the journal of Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, for AI in Mental Health from 2019-to 2022. She is the current Editorial Board Member of Telehealth and Medicine Today, Business of Data Global Advisory Board member, and one of the founders and members of Women Leaders in Data and Analytics. In addition, Dr. Bauta was selected as an Ambassador for the AI Time Journal.
Dr. Bauta has extensive expertise in information systems, data/analytics, healthcare services, translational research, evaluation, and global public health. She was selected by CDO magazine as a Global Data Power Woman and key influencer in shaping the landscape of business and pioneering the field of data and analytics in 2022, 2021, and 2020, and was selected as the top 100 Data and Analytics professionals in 2021. Dr. Bauta is a published author who has written about mental health, non-communicable diseases, and improving health and mental health systems. She has worked both domestically and internationally on building information technology and advanced analytic systems, implementing health/mental health projects, and her current research focuses on optimizing processes to improve health outcomes, and protection of health information, including ethical practices in implementing Artificial/Augmented Intelligence technologies in human services and healthcare.
Chief Data and Analytics Officer | Office of Data and System Improvement | Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
Dr. Besa Bauta is the Chief Data and Analytics Officer for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Office of Data and System Improvement, where she oversees data, analytics, data science, and digital transformation initiatives, and manages the data assets for a 2.5-billion-dollar state division. Previously she served as the Chief Data Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Information Security Officer of MercyFirst, an organization that provides health and mental health services for clients in NYC and Long Island. As the divisional lead for the Research, Evaluation, Analytics, and Compliance for Health (REACH) at MercyFirst, she oversaw data integration technology, infrastructure development, research, evaluation, and analytics. She also served as the Chief Analytics Officer for Precision Human Services and was one of the founders of the Social Impact AI Lab (SIAIL), whose goal is to support the digital transformation of the human service sector. SIAIL won the national Social Determinants of Health Innovation Challenge sponsored by the Robert Wood Jonson Foundation in 2020 and was a finalist in the NYU Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship 2021 challenge under her guidance. Dr. Bauta was also the Research Director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) community-based education project in Afghanistan and the Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at the Center for Evidence-Based Implementation and Research (CEBIR) at Catholic Guardian Services.
Dr. Bauta is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New York University and teaches both public health and social work at the graduate and doctoral levels. She holds a Ph.D. from NYU with training in Health Services and Implementation Science, an MPH in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention from NYU College of Global Public Health, and an MSW in Clinical Social Work from NYU Silver School of Social Work. Dr. Bauta has Psychoanalytic training from the Institute of Psychoanalytic Education, NYU Langone School of Medicine, Division of Psychiatry, and a BA from Rutgers University with training in Evolutionary Anthropology, and Biomedical Engineering. She served as the Associate Editor for the journal of Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, for AI in Mental Health from 2019-to 2022. She is the current Editorial Board Member of Telehealth and Medicine Today, Business of Data Global Advisory Board member, and one of the founders and members of Women Leaders in Data and Analytics. In addition, Dr. Bauta was selected as an Ambassador for the AI Time Journal.
Dr. Bauta has extensive expertise in information systems, data/analytics, healthcare services, translational research, evaluation, and global public health. She was selected by CDO magazine as a Global Data Power Woman and key influencer in shaping the landscape of business and pioneering the field of data and analytics in 2022, 2021, and 2020, and was selected as the top 100 Data and Analytics professionals in 2021. Dr. Bauta is a published author who has written about mental health, non-communicable diseases, and improving health and mental health systems. She has worked both domestically and internationally on building information technology and advanced analytic systems, implementing health/mental health projects, and her current research focuses on optimizing processes to improve health outcomes, and protection of health information, including ethical practices in implementing Artificial/Augmented Intelligence technologies in human services and healthcare.
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