Dr. Macedo joined SM in September 2006 to provide data analysis, data management, and statistical and econometric support in the design and development of tools for identifying compliance vulnerability, fraud, and abuse. He also assists with the development of statistical sampling and other methodologies and protocols for purposes of identification and projection of error rates. Dr. Macedo has extensive experience in applying statistical tools to identify data patterns, and in using econometric techniques to model relationships among financial and economic variables. Dr. Macedo is a Professor of Economics at The George Washington University and was previously a Consulting Economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. He has also held previous position as the Director of the Economics Graduate Program and Professor at FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF MINAS GERIAS (UFMG) Center for Development and Regional Planning (CEDEPLAR)in Brazil. There he designed and implemented various research projects in areas including Health Status and the Labor Markets, Welfare Assessments, Severance payment/unemployment insurance, Inflation and Collusion in Latin America, Investment climate and governance, and others. Prior to his work at CEDEPLAR, Dr. Macedo was a Visiting Scholar at Yale University in New Haven, CT, and a Staff Economist at the STOCK EXCHANGE OF RIO DE JANIERO, Brazil. He has accomplished numerous publications and presentation focused on issues such as Health Status and the Labor Markets, Estimation of a Weights Matrix for Determining Spatial Effects, Stability of Tacit Collusion Agreements in the Latin American Inflationary Environment, and many others. Dr. Macedo received his Ph.D., also in Economics, from New York University and his MA in Economics from Fundação Getulio Vargas of Rio de Janeiro. Before coming to the U.S., Dr. Macedo held positions in Brazil as a university professor and applied data analyst, and was an economist for five years for the Stock Exchange of Rio de Janeiro. He is a member of the American Economic Association (AEA), the Brazilian Econometric Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Econometria, SBE), and a recipient of multiple Fellowships and honors.