Meaghan McGrath

Meaghan McGrath is an innovation and policy economist at RTI whose work bridges rigorous economic analysis with a deep understanding of how research, technology development, and commercialization drive societal outcomes. Drawing on expertise in program evaluation, technology needs assessments, and benefit–cost analysis, she works with federal agencies, research institutions, and regional innovation organizations to help them assess performance, quantify impact, and strengthen decision-making. At RTI, Ms. McGrath leads and supports evaluations that integrate mixed methods, including longitudinal surveys, large-scale primary data collections, and qualitative interviews, to generate actionable, evidence-based insights.

Currently, Ms. McGrath is conducting an analysis to help determine economic and healthcare impacts of NIH SBIR/STTR programs to strengthen U.S. leadership in biomedical innovation and promote national health and well-being. Previously, she managed data collection activities, data dissemination, and coordinated communication and outreach in support of RTI’s evaluation of the NIH’s Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hubs (REACH) program, which provides academic innovators with funding, program management, and educational opportunities to help covert promising technologies into medical products and train a diverse biomedical workforce.

In addition, Ms. McGrath is contributing to a multi-agency viability assessment of the Upper Missouri River Basin (UMRB) soil moisture and snowpack monitoring network, evaluating the governance and operational model to inform NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) of how the deployed program model could be expanded or replicated elsewhere in the United States. Her recent work also includes contributing to a portfolio review of CSIRO’s research contributions and investment in Great Barrier Reef science and innovation. In that role, she and the RTI team assessed the strategic positioning of CSIRO’s research to help inform future investment and enable the next generation of Reef science and environmental stewardship. 

During her tenure at RTI, Ms. McGrath has led the compilation of the United States' Solid Waste Inventory submission to the UNFCCC, which included modeling waste flows, performing complex research and analysis to inform modifications to waste accounting methodologies based on best available data, and interfacing with waste sector trade associations and public and private entities. She has also performed research and assisted in the creation of a model estimating the flows of consumer electronics from households to various downstream entities in the United States and has provided oversight and expertise to the US EPA within their Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program for the municipal solid waste, industrial waste, and industrial wastewater sectors.

Since joining RTI in 2012, Ms. McGrath has cultivated experience that spans environmental and economic analysis, program design and evaluation, and applied research in support of complex innovation ecosystems. She is a member of the American Evaluation Association and holds a MicroMasters certificate in Data, Economics, and Development Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as an Engineering in Training (EIT) certification.