Vladka Kovar is a board-certified preventive medicine physician and epidemiologist with a background in psychiatry and a “side” degree in art history, theory, and criticism. Vladka’s unique background allows her to conduct research and evaluation in a variety of areas including public health, behavioral health, medical education, and systems design and implementation evaluation. Vladka brings a breadth of practical theory-driven knowledge and experience to her evaluation work.
Current efforts are focused on partnering with local public health agencies to pilot test standardized process and evaluation measures for project monitoring and quality improvement. She is also leading the comprehensive evaluation of the All-patient Cancer Center Expansion of Supportive Services (ACCESS) for Tobacco Cessation Treatment at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, a multi-site program development and implementation study. Vladka is part of CEPEG’s Evaluation Training and Technical Assistance Team where she provides tailored training for local public health agencies, non-profits, government agencies, foundations, and community organizations to build research and evaluation capacity. Vladka’s professional interests stem from her extensive volunteer efforts in Africa working in health care system design and quality improvement projects as well as disease prevention and health promotion campaigns.
Before joining CEPEG, Vladka acted as a consultant for the Pediatric Injury Prevention, Education and Research Program conducting qualitative research related to mental health services, and as an assistant program director in the Preventive Medicine Residency Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.