Dr. Courtney Balentine, associate professor in the Division of Endocrine Surgery, was named the Executive Director of WiSOR, effective Nov. 1, 2025, and the Director of Data Science.
Dr. Balentine has a strong track record of mentorship and interdisciplinary research programmatic development. His experiences in health services research teams and units at prior institutions will allow him to bring exciting ideas and collaborations into the Wisconsin health services research program.
“Dr. Balentine presented a thoughtful and exciting vision for WiSOR and will build on the momentum that past Directors and Interim Director Ben Zarzaur have created in our Department of Surgery Health Services program,” said Dr. Rebecca Minter, A.R. Curreri Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery.
Dr. Ben Zarzaur, Chair of the Division of Acute Care and Regional General Surgery, served as the interim leader of WiSOR over the last year. During this time, he supported, nurtured and grew WiSOR in partnership with Kathy Miller, assistant director of WiSOR, and its members.
WiSOR is an interdisciplinary, multi-investigator research program that supports a wide variety of outcomes-focused research, including comparative effectiveness research, qualitative research (particularly involving patient-provider interactions), performance and safety in surgical care, health care disparities, patterns of care, quality of life and decision analysis.
In addition to his Executive Director of WiSOR responsibility, Dr. Balentine will be assuming the position of Director of Data Science, a new faculty leadership role within the Department of Surgery. Dr. Balentine has developed excellent concepts on how the department can strengthen its partnership with Statistical Analysis and Research Programming (STARP). He will also be charged with leading how the department can leverage its data science expertise at UW–Madison for scholarship and discovery.