Grant Lasson, Associate Vice President for Strategy and Chief Strategy Officer for U of U Health, has extensive experience helping major health care systems with strategic planning, business planning, strategy execution, and operations performance management. At U of U Health, Mr. Lasson is responsible for helping lead, support, and coordinate strategic planning efforts for all health sciences and health care programs at the University.
A native of Utah, James earned a bachelor’s degree at Utah Valley University and a master’s degree from Brigham Young University before obtaining a doctorate with a focus in organizational sociology from Washington State University. James’ graduate work addressed two questions: First, why organizations persist with strategies that fail to engender competitive advantage. Second, how social norms shape organizational involvement of diverse social groups. In his current role, he and his team use theory and analytics to synthesize unstructured, disjointed health care industry information into meaningful, compelling narratives that allow University of Utah Health to develop and refine strategy.
I received my MPH from University of Utah, where my graduate work focused on global health and improving neonatal outcomes for mothers and infants. Prior to joining the Health Sciences strategy team, I specialized in quality improvement and successfully directed patient-centered transformation and NCQA recognition simultaneously within 11 Primary Care Clinics.
Strategy is the intersection of art and science, rooted in data. There are no reports or easy buttons in our group; we stand on the edge of the undiscovered to shed light in new places and tell stories about what we’ve learned. We help the health system navigate through murky waters. This work feeds both my need to be creative and methodically scientific – a perfect balance and so very fun
David comes to us after a successful 10-year stint in academia and is passionate about data analytics. He was drawn to the U Health strategy team by its unique synthesis of healthcare, business strategy, and data science. David received his PhD in biostatistics from Harvard University.
I’m at my professional best when I'm thinking through complex problems— using data and strategy to inform on insights that drive critical decisions. This led me to study business and strategy at BYU—eventually leading to my start here at the U.
At its core, strategy is a discipline fixated on discovery. The choices about which capabilities to develop, what actions to take, and where to invest over time are what defines a firm. I want to be a part of the process of discovering the right choices to make.
After graduating from BYU, I started as an intern for the strategy team before accepting this current position. I recently graduated from the University of Utah and I aim to combine data science skills, data visualization techniques, and strategy concepts to deliver effective market-facing intelligence tools and applications.
Strategy compels my analytical background to be more than just crunching numbers. Strategy enables my work to become not only interesting, but insightful and lasting.
I attended the University of Utah for a Bachelors and PhD in Biomedical Engineering. My thesis was on nanoconstruct-based photothermal therapy to enhance polymeric chemotherapeutic delivery as well as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for early detection of tuberculosis. I transitioned to business as the Vice President of a local secondary water company and enjoyed strategy, planning, and management but wanted to do so at a larger scale and in an academic medical setting so I moved to the University of Utah Health Sciences Strategy team.
As a competitive person at heart, strategy appeals to me as a tool to gain advantage over an opponent in a way that improves your odds of winning.