Dr. Roby earned his Ph.D. in public policy from The George Washington University in 2006, and his B.A. in geography with a minor in public policy from UCLA in 1998. His research interests include health care affordability, access to care for the uninsured, impacts of managed care, use of safety net providers, and the effectiveness of disease management programs. Dr. Roby is currently working on a study of the characteristics of HMO enrollees for the Office of the Patient Advocate, as well as a study involving access to acute care for children in California's hospitals. He is also working on two projects evaluating state programs: a long-term evaluation of a chronic care disease management program for Medi-Cal and an evaluation of the Health Care Coverage Initiatives.