Stephen Kolar

Dr. Stephan Kolar is a PhD epidemiologist and data expert with two decades of experience in public health research, survey methodology, and federal data systems. She spent three years as a Survey Statistician and Methodologist with the USDA's National Animal Health Monitoring System, a Federal Statistical Unit, where she designed and deployed nationally representative surveys, managed survey platforms, and led the digital transformation of data collection during the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak. Prior to that, she spent seven years as a Measurement Consultant for the Veterans Health Administration, overseeing educational needs assessments and program evaluations and managing IT SaaS contracts. She holds expertise in data analysis, survey design, and program evaluation. She currently works in AI model training, giving her firsthand knowledge of how these systems are developed and function. 

Dr. Kolar is also a screenwriter, director, and producer whose creative work reflects her scientific background. Trained in screenwriting for television series and feature films through the UCLA Extension, she has written and/or directed several short films including A Brief History of Women's Health: The Musical!, Don't Feed the Aliens, Hospital Chaos, and The Inflection Scheme, which have screened at film festivals. Her scripts, ranging from shorts to full-length features, have won awards at multiple screenwriting competitions.