The Business of Healthcare

Dr. Ryan Leslie

Associate Vice President of Research, Ascension
Administrative Leader, Ascension Clinical Research Institute

Dr. Ryan Leslie is Associate Vice President of Research for Ascension and is the business and administrative leader for the Ascension Clinical Research Institute. Prior to his national research leadership role, Ryan was a member of the executive leadership team of Ascension Texas, where his responsibilities included analytics, research, graduate medical education (GME), and the development and support of collaborative data, research, and analytics capabilities for Ascension’s partnership with The Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. Ryan holds three degrees from UT-Austin, including a BBA in management information systems and an MS and PhD in health economics and outcomes research. 

Before joining Ascension, Ryan spent 10 years as a consultant helping organizations build analytical capabilities and conduct advanced analytics. His research focused on Central Texas’ dynamic healthcare safety net for the area’s uninsured populations.  

Dr. Tahir Ekin

2021-2022 Presidential Fellow
Associate Professor of Quantitative Methods
McCoy College of Business, Texas State University

Dr. Tahir Ekin is the Texas State University Presidential Fellow, the Stephen R. Gregg, Sr. Excellence Professor, and Associate Professor of Quantitative Methods at the McCoy College of Business. Dr. Ekin’s areas of expertise include statistical and analytical applications in health care fraud assessment and decision modeling under uncertainty. In addition to dozens of scholarly articles, Dr. Ekin authored a book, “Statistics and Health Care Fraud: How to Save Billions.”   He is an elected member of International Statistical Institute and currently serves as Vice President of the International Society of Business and Industrial Statisticians.  He has taught health care fraud analytics workshops for many organizations including the European Health Care Fraud Corruption Network, International Statistical Institute, and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. His research has been funded more than $1M by federal, state and private agencies, and foundations including National Science Foundation, Air Force Scientific Office of Research, Texas Health and Human Services, and BBVA Foundation.  Dr. Ekin holds a Ph.D. in Decision Sciences from The George Washington University, and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Bilkent University, Turkey.