Linnea Warren May

@LinneaKWMay on Twitter

Associate Policy Researcher

Pittsburgh Office

Education

M.P.H. in health behavior, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health; B.S. in biology and psychology, University of Pittsburgh

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Linnea Warren May (she/her) is an associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She has worked on projects related to building a culture of health, city resilience planning, integrating data to assess well-being and social equity, workforce development, patient experience with health care, disaster recovery, and military mental health and health systems. Her Pittsburgh-based work focuses on the nexus of health, social equity, environment, and infrastructure, partnering with government and nongovernment stakeholders to use data and analysis for decisionmaking. She has experience in quantitative and qualitative research and analysis, workshop and training development, and strategic planning. Before joining RAND, Warren May worked at a health communications marketing agency. She has also worked in tobacco policy and community engagement for HIV prevention. Warren May earned her M.P.H. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health with a concentration in health behavior and her B.S. in biology and psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Development of a culture of health
Developing the City of Pittsburgh's Resilience Strategy
Identifying and analyzing Equality Indicators for Pittsburgh
Surgo / RAND COVID-19 Research Collaboration: Vulnerability and Testing Access in Allegheny County
The Science- and Technology-Focused Workforce Ecosystem: An Analysis of the Pittsburgh Region

Selected Publications

Warren May, L., Lanna, S., Fischbach, J., Bongard, M.,… Bowling, J., Pittsburgh Equity Indicators: A progress update on the state of equity in Pittsburgh. Annual Report 2018., City of Pittsburgh, 2019

Towe, V., Warren May, L., Huang, W., Martin, L., Carman, K., Miller, C., & Chandra, A., "Drivers of differential views of health equity in the U.S.: Is the U.S. ready to make progress? Results from the 2018 National Survey of Health Attitudes," BMC Public Health, 2020

Warren May, Linnea, Jordan R. Fischbach, and Michele Abbott, Informing Pittsburgh's Options to Address Lead in Water, RAND Corporation (PE-247-RC), 2017

Fischbach, Jordan R., Linnea Warren May, Katie Whipkey, Shoshana R. Shelton, Christine Anne Vaughan, Devin Tierney, Kristin J. Leuschner, Lisa S. Meredith, and Hilary J. Peterson, After Hurricane Maria: Predisaster Conditions, Hurricane Damage, and Recovery Needs in Puerto Rico, RAND Corporation (RR-2595-DHS), 2020

Martin, Laurie T., Linnea Warren May, Sarah Weilant, Joie D. Acosta, and Anita Chandra, How Cultural Alignment and the Use of Incentives Can Promote a Culture of Health: Stakeholder Perspectives, RAND Corporation (RR-1889-RWJ), 2017

Dubowitz, T., Orleans, T., Nelson, C., Warren May, L., Sloan, J. C., & Chandra, A., "Creating Healthier, More Equitable Communities By Improving Governance And Policy," Health Affairs, 35(11), 2016

Honors & Awards

Spotlight Award, 2015, JIE, RAND Corporation
Spotlight Award, 2016, Health, RAND Corporation
Bronze Medal Award, 2018, RAND Corporation

Commentary

Public Health Preparedness

How Have Communities Been Faring During COVID-19? And How Will Lessons Learned Inform Future Response and Planning?
As the United States emerges from the devastation of the pandemic, it may be time to examine the choices communities made during the last year to see how these approaches shape continued COVID-19 response and recovery and help build resilience for future pandemic response.
Aug 11, 2021
The RAND Blog
Data Analysis

Equitable Data Analysis: Lessons from a COVID-19 Research Collaborative
The health inequities exposed by COVID-19 underscored the importance of collecting race-stratified data to inform local policymakers. For the public health researchers trying to provide that, the pandemic also revealed some major pitfalls, especially about relying on open-source data.
Jul 27, 2021
The RAND Blog
Water Supply

Getting the Lead Out of Pittsburgh's Water
Without an aggressive long-term strategy for replacing service lines, and collaboration among the water authority, public officials, and residents, lead in Pittsburgh's water will persist.
Jul 3, 2017
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Health and Wellness Promotion

What 32 Million Tweets Tell Us About Health and the Twitterverse
Health-related posts and conversations on Twitter shed light on the public's views on obesity, exercise and fitness, safe sex, alcohol, and mental health. Will such discussion increase in communities where health and wellness programs are put in place?
Jan 26, 2017
The Health Care Blog
Public Health

What If Being a Leader in Public Health Is About More Than Just Health?
Public health leaders should be able to articulate the business case for their work and should have the skills to work with others outside the health sector. Schools could help by preparing students to think beyond the traditional boundaries of public health.
Nov 17, 2016
The RAND Blog

Publications

Multimedia
Assessing Social Equity in Disaster Preparation, Response, and Recovery
Social scientist Melissa Finucane reviews the complex nature of social equity—including contextual, procedural, and distributional equity dimensions—and how a robust, evidence-based approach is needed to measure progress toward equity in disaster contexts.
Jan 5, 2022
Tool
Vulnerability, Inequity, and COVID-19: A Portrait of the Pandemic in Allegheny County: Tracking Evolving Disparities in Testing, Cases, Hospitalizations, Deaths, and the Ability to Practice Physical Distancing
RAND researchers, the Black Equity Coalition, and Surgo Ventures created an interactive online tool to consider disparities and community vulnerability to COVID-19 in Allegheny County.
Jul 19, 2021
Report
A Scoping Literature Review on Indicators and Metrics for Assessing Racial Equity in Disaster Preparation, Response, and Recovery
In this report, researchers provide recommendations for assessing racial equity in U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster preparation, response, or recovery programs.
Jul 15, 2021
Journal Article
COVID-19 Community Response: Emerging Themes Across Sentinel Communities
Since the onset of COVID-19, RAND researchers contributed to four reports on the impact and response in nine communities (Finney Co., Harris Co., Milwaukee, Mobile, San Juan Co., Sanilac Co., Tacoma, Tampa, and White Plains) and four cross-community reports.
Jul 14, 2021
Journal Article
Drivers of Differential Views of Health Equity in the U.S. Is the U.S. Ready to Make Progress? Results from the 2018 National Survey of Health Attitudes
This study uses data from a nationally representative sample of American adults to examine the factors that people think drive health outcomes and their beliefs about the importance of health equity.
Jan 26, 2021
Report
After Hurricane Maria: Predisaster Conditions, Hurricane Damage, and Recovery Needs in Puerto Rico
Following the 2017 hurricane season, the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested a review of Puerto Rico's hurricane damage and recovery needs. This report summarizes the resulting cross-sector analysis of history, conditions, and needs.
Sep 30, 2020
Report
Charting Progress: U.S. Military Non-Medical Counseling Programs
This chartbook summarizes findings from an evaluation of two programs offered by the DoD that provide solution-focused counseling for common personal and family issues to members of the active and reserve components of the U.S. military and their families.
Apr 27, 2018
Infographic
Helping Military Families: A Look at Non-Medical Counseling Programs in the U.S. Military
A recent evaluation of the military's non-medical counseling programs suggests that they help military personnel and their families. Participants gave the programs favorable ratings, and most reported improvement over a three-month period.
Jan 16, 2018
Journal Article
Evaluation of the National CLAS Standards: Tips and Resources
OMH commissioned the development of a framework and toolkit to guide efforts to evaluate the National CLAS Standards across four settings: ambulatory care, behavioral health, hospitals, and public health.
2018
Journal Article
Pittsburgh Equity Indicators: A Baseline Measurement for Enhancing Equity in Pittsburgh
The 2018 Pittsburgh Equity Indicators report in enables the comparison of two years of data to measure change in disparities. The report includes information on equality scores for 2017 and 2018, as well as "change scores" between years.
2018
Report
An Evaluation of U.S. Military Non-Medical Counseling Programs
This report evaluates two programs offered by the U.S. Department of Defense that provide solution-focused counseling for common personal and family issues to members of the active and reserve components of the U.S. military and their families.
Oct 23, 2017
Research Brief
U.S. Military Non-Medical Counseling Programs Demonstrate Benefits for Participants
RAND's evaluation of Military and Family Life Counseling and Military OneSource, based on participant surveys, suggests that these programs are largely effective for service members and families who have used these services.
Oct 23, 2017
Report
Informing Pittsburgh's Options to Address Lead in Water
This Perspective reviews the history and recent developments related to the use of lead in Pittsburgh's water system and the costs, regulatory barriers, and feasibility of the policy options for remediation under consideration by decisionmakers.
Jun 27, 2017
Report
Robust Stormwater Management in the Pittsburgh Region: A Pilot Study
This report provides an independent study of how the stormwater problem in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania metropolitan region could grow with future change, and discusses potential long-term solutions using new analytical approaches developed by RAND.
Apr 24, 2017
Report
How Cultural Alignment and the Use of Incentives Can Promote a Culture of Health: Stakeholder Perspectives
This report draws on interviews with Culture of Health stakeholders whose work focused on culture, incentives, or both to learn how organizations are addressing and leveraging culture and incentives to promote health and well-being.
Apr 14, 2017
Journal Article
Pittsburgh Equity Indicators: A Baseline Measurement for Enhancing Equity in Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Equity Indicators assess annual progress toward equitable opportunities and outcomes for Pittsburghers of all races, genders, and incomes. The 2017 report summarizes baseline equality scores, which measure disparities in Pittsburgh.
2017
Journal Article
Creating Healthier, More Equitable Communities by Improving Governance and Policy
Political and governance considerations should play a central role in the national conversation about improving health and health equity.
Nov 28, 2016
Journal Article
The Relationship Between Emotion Regulation, Social Support, and Alcohol-Related Problems Among Racially Diverse Adolescents
Difficulty with emotional regulation and use of drinking as a way to forget about problems can predict some adolescent alcohol-related problems.
Apr 27, 2016
Report
Stakeholder Perspectives on a Culture of Health: Key Findings
RAND engaged stakeholders to support development of an action framework and measurement strategy for Robert Wood Johnson's Culture of Health vision, in which "everyone in our diverse society leads healthier lives now and for generations to come."
Jan 14, 2016
Report
Resources and Capabilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to Provide Timely and Accessible Care to Veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, with broad resources and capabilities, provides timely and high-quality care to most, but not all, patients. Meeting veterans' needs over the next five years will require additional capacity.
Dec 31, 2015