Samantha Shaak, PhD is the Director of Community Innovation & Evaluation for The Leonard Parker Pool Institute for Health. She has been with LVHN since 2015. Prior to transitioning to the Institute in 2021, she served as a Senior Research and Evaluation Scientist and the Manager of Health Systems Research & Evaluation in the Department of Community Health.  

Samantha is an applied, translational researcher with interest and experience in initiatives that use cross-sector approaches to build community, using data to inform and mobilize community change. Her work focuses on evaluations of prevention and intervention efforts that promote family and community resilience and on community-level systems changes to improve quality of life and health.

Shaak received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Georgetown University in 2008 and earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development and Family Studies from University of Connecticut in 2014. Samantha is a Pool Fellow for Health Alumni, participating in both 2016 and 2021.