About

Sprawling aerial view of Central Campus's gothic architecture at sunset
The CostaSheva Lab is a thriving interdisciplinary research group led by founders, Dr. Deena Costa, a nurse researcher at Yale University, and Dr. Olga Yakusheva, an economist from Johns Hopkins University. Comprised of interdisciplinary members from Yale, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Michigan, our lab focuses on systems-level approaches to the optimization of health care delivery using big data analytics with an emphasis on the healthcare workforce. This includes the role and impact of nursing in healthcare systems and inter-professional teams in the ICU and in other clinical environments.  
In examining the economic and clinical outcomes of nursing and team practices, we work to quantify and enhance the value of nursing in the healthcare system and as key members of the interprofessional team with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency. We partner with healthcare systems (i.e., CommonSpirit Health, Michigan Medicine, and Yale New Haven Health System), employing an academia-industry model to produce impactful, data-driven strategies that inform policy initiatives for optimal health care delivery by the largest healthcare workforce — nurses.  
While Drs. Costa & Yakusheva have been collaborating since 2015, our team first received funding in 2019, from University of Michigan School of Nursing donors, to methodologically advance our understanding and measurement of ICU teams. This project set the stage for further work funded by the American Thoracic Society Nursing Research Grant and now ongoing Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute R01 funding. Our group has several currently and previously completed research projects examining clinical team contributions to patient care in the ICU and the healthcare workforce. See our Research Studies and Publications pages for further details.  

Research Foci

Across these two foci, we employ both qualitative and quantitative methods in our research. Dr. Costa  leads the qualitative work, and Dr. Yakusheva leads the quantitative work.  

Connect With Us!

If you would like to get in touch with us, reach out to costasheva@yale.edu or click on “Contact Us” to send a message.