Tara Lagu
2026 Distinguished Pharmacy Alumni Awardee
Tara Lagu
Executive Vice President and Medical Director, Value-Based Healthcare Solutions
Alliant Insurance Services
Being named a Distinguished Alumna is truly one of the greatest honors of my life. I feel so lucky because the education and experience I had at Purdue has truly shaped my life and my accomplishments as a Boilermaker are a point of great pride for me. When I think about my career trajectory, I always start with the value of being chosen for the Freshman Scholars program at the pharmacy school. It was my first introduction to academic science and to research, and, to this day, research is my first love.
Education
BS 1997, Pharmacy, Purdue University
MPH 2000, Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale University
MD 2002, Medicine, Yale University
Career Highlights
– A 20-year career in research, served as PI on many NIH grants, authored more than 120 papers, and named a Master of Hospital Medicine by the Society of Hospital Medicine
– Teaching and working with pharmacy and medical students and residents
– Advanced the literature on gaps in care for people with disabilities, leading to changes in understanding of how to adapt care for vulnerable patients
– Working with health systems across the US to improve population health efforts
– Worked as a thought leader during the COVID-19 pandemic to remind health care professionals of the importance of leading with compassion and patient-centeredness, even in times of incredible stress
Biography
A recognized thought leader in direct patient care innovation, health system quality, and value-based performance, Dr. Tara Lagu is an Executive Vice President and Medical Director at Alliant Insurance Services, where her work focuses on driving improvement in cost and quality outcomes for Accountable Care Organizations, Medicare Advantage plans, health systems, and providers. She oversees the interpretation of population health analytics and works directly with executive and clinical leadership to support performance improvement.
Dr. Lagu earned a degree in Pharmacy from Purdue University and is still a licensed pharmacist. After pharmacy school, she completed a dual MD/MPH degree at the Yale University School of Medicine, followed by a residency in General Internal Medicine at Brown University and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Prior to her position at Alliant, she completed 20 years of experience as a clinician, researcher, and health system leader, most recently serving as a Director and Professor at the Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research in the Institute for Public Health and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She previously served as a clinical lead for CMS in the development of various quality metrics (including Hospital Stars) and conducted high-impact research focused on the quality, cost, and outcomes of care in the U.S.