About
For more than 20 years, I have connected health science, technology, human behavior, and enterprise execution across military health, employer health, digital platforms, senior living, consumer health, and preventive wellness.
My work has ranged from a $25M national population health initiative serving 400K beneficiaries to AI-enabled engagement, Epic-connected digital care, global workforce health, and an experience platform scaled across 32 communities.
The setting changes. The question underneath it does not:
How do we turn a credible health idea into something people can use and an organization can deliver, measure, and improve?
Asset P-01 · defining portrait
Portrait 4:5, minimum 2400×3000. Commissioned photography only. Alt text: Sarah Matyko, PhD.
Early in my career, I helped with a hygiene initiative in rural Afghanistan. Our team offered two kinds of soap. One was plain and functional. The other was thoughtfully wrapped and scented.
In a setting where resources were limited, I expected utility to decide. People repeatedly chose the soap that felt like an experience.
That observation changed how I understood health behavior.
People do not choose solely on the basis of what is rational or useful. They also choose meaning, dignity, identity, and the way an experience makes them feel. Evidence matters. So does the form in which people encounter it.
I later applied that principle to a preventive health campaign in Navy Medicine. Rather than rely on compliance language, the work used cultural relevance, humor, and a more personal invitation. Mammography screening increased 45%.
The lesson has stayed with me across every setting since: do not ask only what people should do. Design the conditions that make the better choice feel relevant, possible, and worth taking.
Complex work slows when teams are asked to collaborate without a shared outcome, explicit ownership, or a clear way to make tradeoffs. I align leaders on what success means, who decides, and what evidence should guide the decision.
Measurement should do more than prove value after launch. It should help teams learn while the work is still in motion. I build feedback, review, and iteration into the product and operating cadence so evidence can improve the next decision.
The strongest systems do not rely on individual heroics or constant executive control. I establish standards, ownership, and shared learning practices that let cross-functional teams use judgment, act with accountability, and improve the work together.
Sensei | 2025–Present
Leading the design and commercialization of integrated preventive health experiences, with responsibility across scientific standards, behavioral design, measurement, operations, and guest value.
League | 2025
Led enterprise strategy across behavioral science, clinical insight, AI-powered personalization, engagement, and validation for payer, provider, and employer health platforms.
Premise Health | 2022–2025
Led digital health transformation across a major employer-based healthcare network, aligning product, UX, clinical delivery, Epic integration, operations, analytics, and client value.
Senior Resource Group | 2017–2022
Designed and scaled an evidence-based health and engagement platform across 32 luxury senior-living communities.
BUMED | 2014–2017
Directed national preventive health operations across clinical medicine, behavioral data, population analytics, policy, care access, and performance accountability.
Sonima Wellness | 2013–2014
Developed evidence-based preventive health programming, curricula, expert partnerships, and public education in lifestyle medicine.
ECC | 2007–2013
Directed an $8M health portfolio across five countries, connecting prevention, workforce engagement, measurement, and business value.
PhD, Lifestyle Redesign and Behavioral Science
University of Southern California
Master of Science, Occupational Therapy
University of Southern California
Bachelor of Science, Exercise Physiology
West Virginia University
I live on Lake Norman with my family and our dog. Time on the water, on a trail, in the garden, or making something by hand keeps my systems thinking honest. Healthy outcomes are rarely forced into being. They emerge from the conditions around them. Curiosity, nature, and family remind me to keep creating better conditions, in work and in life.
Asset P-03 · personal context detail
Landscape 3:2, minimum 2400×1600. Sarah-supplied or commissioned.
Build health products and systems that are scientifically credible, deeply usable, operationally sound, and valuable enough to last.