Akeso Consulting Comprehensive Policy Research and Evaluation Services

Senior Staff

Robin H. Pugh Yi, Ph.D., President

Dr. Pugh Yi has more than 30 years of experience in conducting policy research, evaluation, analysis, technical writing, and proposal writing. Her work has focused on quality and equity in public health, education, and employment. Her experience includes serving as Akeso Director of the evaluation of Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered's (FORCE) eXamining Relevance of Articles for You (XRAY) program, evaluation of the US Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy's Visionary Opportunities to Increase Competitive Integrated Employment (VOICE) Initiative, and evaluation of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Training Fund Program. Dr. Pugh Yi served as a senior analyst for the evaluation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and American Heart Association's Voices for Healthy Kids Initiative, which the American Evaluation Association awarded Outstanding Evaluation of the Year, 2018. She earned a Ph.D. in research psychology from the University of California, Riverside, and was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Prevention Research Center.

Select Publications

Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary and Community-Based Linkages & Pugh-Yi, R.H. (2019). Promoting the inclusion of population health at the nexus of primary health care delivery and public health: 18th annual report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress. Rockville, MD: Health Resources and Services Administration.

Pugh-Yi, R.H. (2018). Engaging families of students with disabilities. Technical Working Group meeting proceedings report. Prepared by JDC for the US Department of Education Institute of Education Science National Center for Special Education Research.

Pugh Yi, R.H., Rezende, L., Schlager, K., Dearfield, C.T. & Friedman, S.J. (2017). XRAYS (eXamining Relevance of Articles to Young Survivors) Program Survey of Information Needs and Media Use by Young Breast Cancer Survivors and Young Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer. Health Communication. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10410236.2017.1372051

Pugh Yi, R.H., Rezende, L., Dearfield, C., Welcsh, P. & Friedman, S. (2019) Results of a Pilot Test of Effects of an Online Resource on Lay Audience Understanding of Media Reports on Breast Cancer Research. Health Education. 78(5), 0017896919841406.

Reise, S.P.; Widaman, K.; & Pugh, R.H. (1993). Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory: Two approaches for exploring measurement invariance. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 552-566.

Craig T. Dearfield, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate

Dr. Dearfield has more than 15 years of experience conducting research and evaluation to support federal, state, and non-profit organizations. He offers expertise in statistical analysis, study design, health equity, and access to early childhood education. His consulting experience includes serving as senior analyst for Akeso's evaluation of Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered's (FORCE) eXamining Relevance of Articles for You (XRAY) program, Indian Health Services' assessment of bullying in tribal schools, the National Institutes of Health Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women's Health and Broadening Experience in Scientific Training, and evaluation of the DC Tobacco Free Families Campaign. He earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Howard University.

Select Publications

Dearfield, C. T. (2017). Contextual factors that influence alcohol use behaviors. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 26(4), 303-313.

Dearfield, C. T., Barnum, A. J., & Pugh-Yi, R. H. (2017). Adapting Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy for Health Literacy Interventions. Humanity & Society, 41(2), 182-208.

Dearfield, C. T., & Pugh-Yi, R. (2011). Neighborhood Botanicos as a Source of Alternative Medicine for Latino Americans: Implications for Clinical Management of HIV/AIDS. HIV in Communities of Color: The Compendium of Culturally Competent Promising Practices: The Role of Traditional Healing in HIV Clinical Management, 21-26.

Dearfield, C.T., Pugh-Yi, R.H., Annand, D., & Ross, A. (2010). Results of the "Nasty" intervention evaluation: Effects of education about tobacco marketing on attitudes and intentions of high-risk youth. Presentation at the American Public Health Association 2010 meeting.

Pugh Yi, R. H., & Dearfield, C. T. (2012). The status of women in the US media 2012. Women’s Media Center: http://www. womensmediacenter. com/pages/theproblem.