Allison Crha, MPH, BSN, RN

Harvard University

2022 Fellow

Placement: Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Health

What is Ally up to these days?

Allison Crha is a Legislative Assistant in the Office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, advising on health, education, Social Security, and child care policy. Formerly, she completed her David. A Winston Health Policy Fellowship placement with the Senate Finance Committee under Chairmen Ron Wyden. Prior to the fellowship, Ally worked at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the Maternal Child Health Bureau’s Office of Policy and Planning. She has also practiced clinically as a registered nurse working across the Trauma, Emergency Department, Critical Care, and Mental Health in rural and urban settings. 

Outside of her clinical and academic pursuits, Ally is a member of the Harvard Innovation Lab, where she runs Nurse Voices. As a passionate patient and caregiver champion, she founded Nurse Voices to educate and empower nurses as health policy advocates. Awarded the One Young World Global Health Scholar in 2019, Ally sat down with former Prime Minister Brundtland of Norway in a roundtable discussion on the future of international health care. She received her Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in May 2022 with concentrations in Health Policy and Maternal Child Health. Ally received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Gonzaga University (Go Zags!) and is originally from Seattle, Washington.

Lauren Battle, MSPH

Columbia University 

2021 Fellow

Placement: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

What is Lauren up to these days?

Lauren Battle is a Health Policy Advisor for Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the Chairwoman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Her policy portfolio includes mental health, substance use, women’s health, and health information technology. She completed her Winston fellowship placement as a Health Policy Fellow with the HELP Committee. Prior to the fellowship, Lauren served as an Independent Consultant with Advancing Health Equity, and developed a framework to systematically evaluate medical school curriculum through an equitable lens. Lauren earned her Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (MPH) in April 2021. While at Columbia, Lauren led the Food Systems Justice Project, a research lab that studies how state-level law, policies, and litigation can promote racial equity in food access and ownership. She was awarded the Columbia Food Fellowship for her leadership in this work. Lauren served as President of Greater Community Reach, a student organization committed to community service, engagement, and empowerment, and also sat on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for her academic department. Throughout her graduate degree program, Lauren held positions at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, The Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, and The Access Challenge. Lauren completed her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at The George Washington University. She is originally from Cleveland, Ohio.

Jessica Hale, MSPH

Johns Hopkins University

2020 Fellow

Placement: U.S. Office of Management and Budget 

What is Jessica up to these days?

Jessica Hale is an Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office in the Budget Analysis Division's Low-Income Health Programs and Prescription Drugs Cost Estimates Unit. She previously worked as a Special Assistant to the Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Jessica completed the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship within the Office of Management and Budget’s Public Health Branch working on COVID-19 issues. She has also held positions at the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) and RTI International. Jessica received her Master of Science in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and, originally from Seattle, attended the University of Washington and received a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health.

Jack DiMatteo, MPP

University of Virginia

2019 Fellow

Placement: Black Maternal Health Caucus

What is Jack up to these days?

Jack DiMatteo works in education and coaches basketball in his hometown of Deerfield, Illinois. He concluded his service as a Policy Advisor in the Office of Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) in August 2023. In Congresswoman Underwood's office, DiMatteo worked on health policy and staffed the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which Congresswoman Underwood co-founded and co-chairs. Jack first joined Congresswoman Underwood’s office as a 2019-2020 David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow. Prior to his fellowship, Jack completed his Master of Public Policy in May 2019 at the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from La Salle University in 2017.

Samantha Burkhart, MPH

Boston University

2022 Fellow

Placement: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

What is Samantha up to these days?

Samantha Burkhart, MPH, is a Program Examiner in the Medicaid Branch of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In this role, she serves the Presidency in implementing the Administration’s priorities across the Executive Branch, notably by developing a Budget and legislative program. Before joining OMB, Sam completed her David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship placement as Special Assistant to Liz Fowler at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), where she supported the development of new healthcare payment and delivery models. 

Before the fellowship, Sam received her Master’s in Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) in May 2022.  At BUSPH, she worked in the Massachusetts Statehouse for Representative Christine Barber and for the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs where she worked on advocating for post-partum Medicaid extenstion and passage of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus. Sam also served on the BUSPH Student Senate where she developed a partnership with the Boston Area Health Education Center to help create an introductory course to public health for high school students. Sam received her Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Northern Arizona University and is originally from Phoenix, Arizona.

Nadia Laniyan, MS

Northwestern University

2021 Fellow

Placement: Senate Committee on Finance, Majority

What is Nadia up to these days?

Nadia Laniyan is a Health Legislative Assistant in the Office of Senator Corey Booker. Formerly, she completed her David. A Winston Health Policy Fellowship placement with the Senate Finance Committee under Chairmen Ron Wyden. Nadia received her Master of Health Communication from Northwestern University’s School of Communications in August 2020. During her studies, Nadia worked as a project coordinator at the Feinberg School of Medicine Center for Child Trauma Assessment, Services, and Interventions supporting projects that focused on training frontline providers in trauma-informed care, building and enhancing trauma-informed and strengths-based practices for Transition Age Youth, and the intersection of race and trauma. She additionally interned at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) as a CARES intern focusing on telehealth policy changes being implemented by states and jurisdictions during the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted the Maternal and Child Health Population. Prior to entering graduate school and working at the Center for Child Trauma Assessment, Services, and Interventions, Nadia worked for the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) on the Women’s and Infant Health Team. During Nadia’s time at AMCHP she supported projects focused on maternal and infant mortality and breastfeeding. Originally from Baltimore, MD, Nadia attended the University of Maryland College Park and received a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health Equity a major she developed in the Individual Studies program.

Janhavi Dubhashi, MPH

Georgia State

2020 Fellow

Placement: United States Senate Committee on Finance 

 

What is Janhavi up to these days?

Janhavi Dubhashi completed her Master’s in Public Health degree with a concentration in Health Management & Policy in December 2019 from Georgia State University. She completed the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship within The United States Senate Committee on Finance working on COVID-19, long term care, and Medicaid health policy issues. Previously, Janhavi has held positions at the National Institutes of Health through the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Myers and Stauffer, and Voices for Georgia’s Children. As of Fall 2021, Janhavi has begun her medical education at the Emory School of Medicine.

Alexander Urry, MPH

Yale University

2019 Fellow

Placement: United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Office

What is Alex up to these days?

Alex Urry currently serves as Senior Policy Advisor to Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), where he oversees the Leader’s health care, agriculture, nutrition, and budget portfolio. Prior to this role, he worked for Speaker Nancy Pelosi for nearly 4 years as an advisor on policy related to health, veterans, and nutrition. He has directly negotiated components of and contributed to the following legislative initiatives: Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Act, Honoring Our PACT Act, Build Back Better, American Rescue Plan, the FY21, FY22, and FY23 Omnibus Appropriations Bills, CARES Act, Keeping Kids Fed Act and No Surprises Act. He holds an MPH in Health Care Management from the Yale School of Public Health and a BA in Biochemistry from Occidental College.

Garrett Devenney, MPH

Drexel University 

2018 Fellow

Placement: United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

What is Garrett up to these days?

Garrett Devenney currently serves as Senior Health Policy Advisor for Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. His policy portfolio includes Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), Tribal health, and aging issues. Prior to joining the committee,

Garrett served as Health Legislative Aide to Senate Democratic Leader, Charles E. Schumer (NY) and completed his placement as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow with the HELP Committee. Originally from Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, Garrett received an MPH from the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University and a B.S. in Biology and Global Health Studies from Allegheny College.

Kristen Lunde, MPH

University of Michigan

 

2018 Fellow

Placement: United States Senate Finance Committee 

 

What is Kristen up to these days?

Kristen is a Director in ATI’s Medicare innovation practice. Before joining ATI, Kristen served as Health Policy Advisor for the Senate Finance Committee. In this role, she led the legislative portfolio and served as technical expert on hospital, post-acute, and hospice care under Medicare Part A as well as rural health, health workforce, and health innovation issues. During her time with the committee, Kristen was involved in major legislative efforts including the CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan, and multiple year-end bills advancing Medicare and elder justice priorities. Prior to this, she was a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow.

Kristen also has experience in performance improvement consulting, insurance benefit design, and public health program implementation. Kristen has a Masters of Public Health from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Rachel Dolin, Ph.D

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

 

2017 Fellow

Placement: United States House Committee on Ways & Means

What is Rachel up to these days?

Rachel Dolin, Ph.D., is Democratic Professional Staff for the Committee on Ways and Means, where she leads Medicare Fee-For-Service, health equity, and climate work on behalf of Chairman Richard E. Neal; she also co-leads the Committee-wide Racial Equity Initiative. She came to the Hill in 2017 as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow after having completed her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow from 2013-2017, Rachel has focused her research on the financing and delivery of quality care to Medicare beneficiaries, with a specific concentration on aging and end-of-life care. Previously, Rachel worked as a researcher for L&M Policy Research, LLC, where she contributed to evaluation and research contracts for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service, as well as other federal, state, and private-sector clients. Her work has been featured on NPR, in Health Affairs, and in other peer-reviewed journals. Rachel received her B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science and History from Tufts University.

Michael Budros, MPH

University of Michigan

 

2017 Fellow

Placement: United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce

What is Michael up to these days?

Michael started a new role in September 2021 as Manager with Manatt Health in D.C. where he works closely on state Medicaid payment and delivery reform. Previously, Michael worked for Healthsperien, a D.C.-based health policy and strategy consulting firm. Michael served as Senior Policy Director, and provided analysis and strategic direction to clients regarding Medicare and Medicaid policy, value-based reimbursement, and weaving social services and health care data. In addition, Michael spearheaded policy for two multi-stakeholder, national advocacy coalitions dedicated to affordability. Prior to joining Healthsperien, Michael managed a research and consulting portfolio at VBID Health focused on low-value care. Michael was a Winston Health Policy Fellow for the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee where he focused on Medicaid and public health. Michael received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Public Policy, and Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan.

Olivia Pham, MSPH

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
 2016 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Energy & Commerce
What is Olivia doing these days?

Olivia Pham is currently a Project Manager with Santa Clara Family Health Plan in San Jose, CA. She previously worked for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. As a former Winston fellow, Olivia completed her placement with the House Energy and Commerce Committee under the leadership of Congressman Frank Pallone. Olivia received her Bachelor of Science at the University of Oklahoma and earned her Master of Science in Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kripa Sreepada, MHA

Cornell University
2016 Fellow
Placement: United States Senate Committee on Finance
What is Kripa up to these days?

Kripa Sreepada currently serves as Health Policy Advisor for Senator Ron Wyden and the Senate Finance Committee, covering the Medicare Part A portfolio. Previously, she served as Health Policy Advisor for Senator Tina Smith, a member of the Senate HELP Committee, and as Health Care Legislative Assistant to Congressman Joseph Crowley, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. She is a former David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow and completed her fellowship placement with the Senate Finance Committee under Senator Wyden.  Before working for Congress, Ms. Sreepada worked as an Associate Administrator at a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) and became a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator (LNHA) for the state of Connecticut.  Ms. Sreepada graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University with her Masters in Health Administration (MHA), and she graduated cum laude from Saint Louis University with her Bachelor of Science in Public Health.  A native of Missouri, Ms. Sreepada has a lifelong passion for older adults and the multidimensional challenges of aging well in American society.

Lydia Orth, MPH

The George Washington University
2015 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health

What is Lydia doing these days?

Currently, Lydia serves as a Special Assistant in the Center for Program Integrity (CPI) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Prior to CMS, Lydia was the Director of Medicaid Initiatives at Families USA leading the advocacy group's Medicaid policy analysis and advocacy agenda development at the state and federal levels. Before Families USA, Lydia worked from 2016 - 2021 in the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, joining the agency as a class of 2016 Presidential Management Fellow (PMF). Prior to becoming a PMF, Lydia was a 2015 David. A. Winston Health Policy Fellow with the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health. Lydia received her Master of Public Health from the George Washington University, and Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science from the University of Colorado Denver.

Adrianna McIntyre

University of Michigan
2015 Fellow
Placement: Office of United Stated House Minority Leader
What is Adrianna up to theses days?

Before beginning the Winston Fellowship, Adrianna McIntyre graduated with a Master of Public Health and Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Prior to graduate school she earned her undergraduate degree in cognitive science and facilitated clinical research regulation at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
The joint MPP/MPH reflected Adrianna’s interest in confronting thorny policy problems using consciously interdisciplinary perspectives. She was a member of the inaugural cohort of Dow Sustainability Fellows, which unites students across the university’s graduate programs to address contemporary issues in sustainability policy. Adrianna’s team developed a white paper on the public health potential of brownfield remediation in Detroit, Michigan.
She was named a 2013 David Bohnett Leadership and Public Service Fellow and spent the summer of 2013 serving her fellowship at the Office of the Mayor in the city of Detroit. While the summer’s biggest projects were focused on municipal governance more broadly, Adrianna provided some analytical support for the restructuring of the city health department.
Adrianna is particularly interested in the intersection of health economics and law: how can empirical findings can be transformed into prudent policy, given the frictions of the political system and the reality that science does not exist in a vacuum? She began to explore these themes through writing, first on her own site, then on noted health policy blog The Incidental Economist. Adrianna was invited to spend the summer of 2014 at Vox, a then-nascent news organization. While there, she spent a considerable amount of time writing about the politics of Medicaid expansion and the legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s insurance subsidies, which would eventually become the Supreme Court case King v. Burwell. Adrianna has also written for Bloomberg View, The Week, and Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.
In September 2015, Adrianna began her fellowship placement in the Office of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. It was an exciting time to embark upon this work, with the 2016 budget deal, prescription drug prices, and mental health reform all generating tremendous attention and interest in the health policy community. Adrianna feels privileged to have the opportunity to work with Wendell Primus and other inspiring and talented policy staff in the Leader’s office and on committees of jurisdiction.

In the Fall of 2016, Adrianna began the Harvard’s PhD program in Health Policy.

Leif Brierley, MPH

Boston University
 2014 Fellow
Placement: Office of Senator Michael Bennett
What is Leif doing these days?

Leif Brierley, MPH, is the Director of Federal Affairs. Leif employs targeted legislative and political analysis, lobbying and advocacy activity, and strategic coalition management to enable clients to make their greatest impact on policy. His work on legislative and regulatory initiatives is critical to the provider, supplier, and consumer groups the firm serves. In his capacity as Manager of Government Relations, Leif conducts, organizes, and facilitates lobbying and related advocacy events, including congressional briefings, Capitol Hill visits, and federal agency meetings. Additionally, he manages a number of national disability and rehabilitation coalitions led by the Powers public policy and government relations group. These coalitions focus on access to rehabilitation services and devices, assistive technology, quality orthotic, and prosthetic care, and promote disability and rehabilitation research across the federal health agencies.

Previously, Leif served as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow (2014-15), a distinguished postgraduate fellowship in health policy awarded to two individuals annually, which includes a full-time work placement in a key health policy development setting. Leif spent his fellowship year working for U.S. Senator Michael F. Bennet. In the U.S. Senate, he covered a broad portfolio of health policy issues, including Medicare, Medicaid, providers, health care delivery systems, and child welfare through the Senate Finance Committee; and public health, infectious disease, medical research, pharmaceuticals, and medical innovation issues through the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Leif also served as a Senior Analyst at the Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC, where he provided best practice research and strategic guidance for hospitals and health systems across the nation. Prior to his time in DC, Leif spent several years involved in the Massachusetts health policy arena, serving as a Health Policy Analyst for the Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide professional association for physicians and medical students that owns and operates the New England Journal of Medicine.

He is a graduate of the Boston University School of Public Health, where he studied Health Policy & Management, earning a Master of Public Health degree. Currently, he is the Vice-Chair of the Board of the Society of Health Policy Young Professionals in Washington, D.C.

KT Kramer, MHA

Tulane University
2014 Fellow
Placement: Office of United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
What is KT up to theses days?

K.T. (Katheryne) Kramer completed her placement with the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Currently, K.T. serves as the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Advisor for the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), where she focuses on elevating and advancing policies and programs that prevent the onset of substance use and reduce harms caused by substance use.

Before joining SAMHSA, K.T. worked for the Congressional Research Services at the Library of Congress, where she provided legislative analysis and technical assistance in the areas of public health and social welfare. She also held roles with the CDC/Foundation and the Association for State and Territorial Health Officials. 

K.T. earned her BA in international studies from Boston College and completed a joint JD/master’s in health administration program at Tulane University. KT got her start in health and health policy as a community health education volunteer with the Peace Corps in Turkmenistan.

Anne Dwyer, JD, MPH

University of Minnesota
2013 Fellow
Placement: Office of United States Senator Ron Wyden
What is Anne up to these days?

Anne Dwyer is an Associate Research Professor of the Practice at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s Center for Children and Families (CCF). Her research and policy work focuses on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) including issues related to behavioral health.  

Prior to joining CCF, Anne served as Senior Health Counsel for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee leading the Medicaid, CHIP, and women’s health portfolio. During her time with the committee, she was directly involved in major health legislation including reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, passage of the American Rescue Plan, and multiple year-end bills advancing Medicaid and children’s health.  

Anne has received numerous awards for her work including the “Exceptional Congressional Staffer Award” from the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors, the “Hill Health Care Hero Staff Award” from the National Association of Community Health Centers, and being named an “Emerging Health Care Leader” by Politico in 2016. She is also a former Winston Health Policy Fellow.

Anne holds a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. 

Colin Goldfinch, MPH, MHA

University of Washington–Seattle
2013 Fellow
Placement: United States Senate Committee on Finance

 

What is Colin up to these days?
Colin is the senior health policy advisor to Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) on the Senate HELP committee. He works on policy areas including the Affordable Care Act, health insurance policy, health information technology, and delivery system reform. Before coming to the committee, Colin spent a year as a David Winston Health Policy Fellow with the United States Senate Finance Committee where he worked on Medicare policy. Colin came to Washington, DC from Seattle, where he worked at Group Health Cooperative (now Kaiser Permanente of Washington) as a public policy analyst. While in Seattle he also completed his Master of Public Health and Master of Health Administration at the University of Washington

Elizabeth Karan, JD, MPH

University of Minnesota
2012 Fellow
Placement: United State Senate Committee on Finance
What is Elizabeth up to these days?
Elizabeth founded Karan Legal Group PLLC to serve nonprofit healthcare providers, specializing in underserved patient populations, such as Hemophilia Treatment Centers, Ryan White Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and family planning and STD clinics. Her expertise is in compliance, transactional arrangements, and legislative and administrative advocacy with a focus on the 340B Discount Drug Pricing Program, federal grants, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement issues. Elizabeth strives to ensure that her clients understand the obligations of the statutes and agreements that underlie their grants so they can focus on fulfilling their mission to provide high-quality healthcare to vulnerable communities. Prior to this, Elizabeth worked as a Senior Associate at Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP in Washington, DC for over six years. Elizabeth also has a background is in national health care policy-making as she served on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee through the David A. Winston Fellowship, learning first-hand the process of drafting and developing federal legislation. Elizabeth earned her J.D. and M.P.H. degrees from the University of Minnesota. She currently resides in Washington, D.C and is admitted to practice law in both D.C. and Illinois.

Yajuan Lu, JD

University of Pittsburgh
2012 Fellow
Placement, Office of United States Senator Chuck Grassley

What is Yajuan up to these days?

Yajuan Lu is a Director of Health Policy and Reimbursement at Boston Scientific. Yajuan leads the corporate HEMA strategy on Medicare reimbursement and manage company relationship with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other external stakeholders, guide and support business unit teams to create a predictable and favorable reimbursement environment for medical device products in the US and further expand patient access to innovative technologies. Prior to BSC, Yajuan worked at Johnson and Johnson as a Director of Coverage and Reimbursement Health Policy where she had indepth experience managing both the US Medicare policies and China reimbursement policies for both medical devices and pharmaceutical products. Yajuan was a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow for Senator Chuck Grassley, assisting with managing the health care portfolio, including entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and various issues within the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee. Yajuan has a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she earned a specialty certificate in Health Law and Policy, and she earned her Bachelors degree from Beijing University Health Science Center.

Swarna Vallurupalli, JD, MPH-HP

St. Louis University
2012 Fellow
Placement: United States Senate Committee on Finance
What is Swarna up to these days?

Swarna Vallurupalli currently works in federal government relations at a biopharmaceutical company. She previously served as  Senior Counsel for  a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee where she worked on all health care issues in addition to covering Social Security, social programs, and women’s issues. She previously served as Health and Tax Counsel for another Senate office. During her year as a David Winston Health Policy Fellow, she worked for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee with a focus on tax and health care issues related to the Affordable Care Act and tax reform. In addition to her Master’s in Health Policy, she received her JD from Vanderbilt University Law School, her LLM in Taxation from New York University School of Law, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago.

 

Miraya Jun, MSPH

Johns Hopkins University
2011 Fellow

Office Of United States House of Representatives' Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi

What is Miraya up to these days?
Miraya is currently working at Mercy Care, an Atlanta-based Federally Qualified Health Center as a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner. She decided to go back to school to pursue a degree in providing direct health care because she was inspired by her volunteer experiences at a hospice and at a nursing home while working as an International Health Policy Research Officer at the London School of Economics immediately after her time as a Winston Fellow in the US House of Representatives' Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's Office. She is continuing to see the benefits of the insight that she gained while researching and working on health policy with her current work in an FQHC.

Jennifer Schmitzer, MPH

Yale University
2011 Fellow
Placement: United States Department of State
What is Jenny doing these days?
I am a Senior Program Associate at Safe Water Network in New York City where my responsibilities include developing content for knowledge outputs on market-based off-grid community safe water solutions, supporting engagement with sector partners, and producing communications materials. A major focus of my work is health impact and consumer research. I joined Safe Water Network in November 2014 after two years working in the water, sanitation & hygiene sector in Liberia as an independent consultant with various organizations including the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, UNICEF, and the World Bank Water & Sanitation Program. I focused on institutional strengthening and rural sanitation programs.

Erin Richardson, MA, JD

Columbia University
2010 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health
What is Erin up to these days?

Erin Richardson is currently Vice President and Associate General Counsel at the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH). Prior to joining the FAH, she served as Senior Policy Advisor with the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Obama. She also previously served as professional staff and health counsel for the Democratic staff of the Committee on Ways and Means, Health Subcommittee where she had an instrumental role in the repeal of the SGR and passage of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. Prior to joining Ways & Means, she was the Legislative Assistant for Health for Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and a Winston Health Policy Fellow at the Committee on Ways and Means. Erin received her law degree from Columbia Law School, master’s in Bioethics from Case Western Reserve University, and bachelor’s from Wellesley College.

Catherine Oakar, MPH

University of Michigan
2010 Fellow
Placement: White House Office of Health Reform
What is Catherine up to these days?
As a veteran of both the White House and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), Catherine Oakar has extensive experience in public health, nutrition and health care policy.

Most recently, Catherine served as the Associate Director of the Let’s Move! initiative in the office of former First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. She also served as a Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Domestic Policy Council’s Office of National AIDS Policy.

Prior to the White House, Catherine served as the Director of Public Health Policy in the Office of Health Reform at HHS. In that role, she had primary oversight responsibility for the implementation of the public health, prevention, disparities and workforce provisions of the Affordable Care Act and spoke across the country about the law.

Catherine began her work in Washington, D.C. as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow. She has also been a Fellow at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland and has conducted community-based research with low-income cancer survivors and safety net clinics. Catherine earned her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan and completed her undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame.

 

John Barkett, MBA

University of Pennsylvania
2009 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health
What is John up to these days?

John Barkett is a managing director in (Berkeley Research Group, LLC) BRG’s Healthcare Transactions and Strategy practice, where he counsels health plans, hospital systems, life sciences companies, and financial institutions, among others, on a range of issues related to transactions and public policy in the healthcare space. Before joining BRG, Mr. Barkett served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Health Care Delivery System Reform on the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he covered drug pricing, Medicare Advantage and Part D, and payment reform. He also previously served on the faculty of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where he was an assistant scientist and Health Policy Scholar. Mr. Barkett was the senior director of Policy Affairs for a large benefits and actuarial consulting firm from 2012 to 2021. He worked for a Silicon Valley startup, the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange, before it was acquired by the consulting firm in 2012. Starting in 2009, Mr. Barkett served on the Health Subcommittee staff of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives and the Office of Health Reform in the Department of Health and Human Services, during which time he worked on the writing, passage, and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and helped guide the implementation of all sections of the Affordable Care Act related to delivery system reform. Previously, Mr. Barkett worked for a revenue-cycle management and electronic medical record company and a Medicare Advantage plan. He also hosted The Business of Health Care, a radio show on SiriusXM, from 2015 to 2018.  Mr. Barkett earned an MBA from the Wharton School. He graduated from Harvard College.

Devon Trolley, MHA

Pennsylvania State University
2009 Fellow
Placement: Office of United States Senator Jay Rockefeller

What is Devon up to these days?

Devon is currently the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority, which operates the Commonwealth's State-based Exchange (known as Pennie). Before that, Devon was Director of Get Covered New Jersey, overseeing the launch of the State-based Exchange in 2020 that led to record levels of enrollment. Devon worked at the federal level previously, implementing the Federally-facilitated Exchange (healthcare.gov) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by leading a wide range of Exchange policy, operations and technology strategic initiatives. While at CMS, she also worked on efforts to address the opioid epidemic and maternal health. As a Winston Fellow in 2009-2010, Devon completed her placement in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV and developed health policy related to health insurance reforms and coverage expansion during the passage of the Affordable Care Act.  Devon has a master's degree in Health Administration from Penn State University.

 

Andrew Roszak, JD, MPA

Southern Illinois University
2008 Fellow
Placement: United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions & United States Senate Budget Committee
What is Andrew up to these days?
Andrew Roszak, JD, MPA, EMT-P, serves as the Senior Director for Emergency Preparedness at Child Care Aware® of America. His professional service includes work as the Senior Preparedness Director of Environmental Health, Pandemic Preparedness, and Catastrophic Response at the National Association of County and City Health Officials; at the MESH Coalition and the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, Indiana, as the Senior Preparedness Advisor supporting Super Bowl 46 and the Indianapolis 500; as a Senior Advisor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; on the Budget and HELP Committees of the United States Senate; and at the Illinois Department of Public Health. Before becoming an attorney, Andrew spent eight years as a firefighter, paramedic, and hazardous materials technician in the Chicago-land area. He has an AS in Paramedic Supervision, a BS in Fire Science Management, a Master of Public Administration, and a Juris Doctorate degree. He is admitted to the Illinois and District of Columbia Bars and is admitted to the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Kelly Whitener, JD MPH

University of California–Los Angeles
2008 Fellow
Placement: United States Senate Committee on Finance
What is Kelly up to these days?
Kelly Whitener is an Associate Professor of the Practice at the Center for Children and Families (CCF) where she focuses on pediatric benefits and managed care delivery systems as well as promoting state level advocacy to improve care for children and families. Prior to joining CCF, Kelly served as the Director of State Coverage Programs at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, overseeing the Children’s Health Insurance (CHIP) and Basic Health Program. Kelly also worked for the Senate Committee on Finance, managing the Medicaid, CHIP, and prevention and wellness portfolio from October 2008 to April 2014. During her time with the Committee, Kelly worked on the CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2009, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, and several year-end bills extending expiring safety net programs. Kelly studied psychology and Spanish at the University of Michigan and earned a Masters of Public Health from UCLA and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown. Kelly’s work has focused on children with special needs, mental health, global public health, and domestic health policy for low-income children and families.

Elizabeth Lee, MPA

New York University
2007
Fellow Placement: Office of United States Senator Hillary Clinton
What is Elizabeth up to these days?

Elizabeth has dedicated her career to public health, working in several senior-level policy roles. Under the Obama Administration, Elizabeth was the senior policy advisor to the administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, where she was responsible for the 340B Drug Pricing Program, HIV/AIDS issues, and maternal and child health initiatives.

Before her work at the Department of Health and Human Services, Elizabeth was a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin and a Winston Health Policy Fellow with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. She received her master’s in public administration from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.

Tanchica West, MPH, MA

St. Louis University
2007 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pension
What is Tanchica up to these days?
Tanchica L. West, MPH, MA is a Senior Advisor the Health Resources and Services Administration HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) in the Division of Policy and Data (HRSA). She has over 15 years of experience in national and international public health and health policy. In 2015, she was selected to lead HRSA HAB coordination of the national plan to end the HIV epidemic. Currently, Ms. West is heading the development of review criteria and a scoring rubric to identify, catalogue, and disseminate best practice strategies and interventions implemented by grant recipients. Ms. West’s expertise spans medical anthropology, policy development, and global health systems strengthening.  She holds a Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology (cultural anthropology) and Master of Public Health (health management and policy) from The University of Memphis and Saint Louis University, respectively.  She is the awardee of three prestigious fellowships: Winston Health Policy Fellow (2008); Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Leadership Fellow (2014); and Health Resources and Services Administration Senior Leadership Fellow (2018). She received HRSA 2017 and 2019 Honor Awards respectively in Outstanding Performance for Group, and serves on Saint Louis University College of Public Health Practice External Advisory Group.

 

Ms. West further has a proven track record developing and analyzing complex legislative matters in state and federal environments to maximize the benefit of health care reform. Ms. West earned an honorable mention in the United States Congressional Record for helping to reauthorize challenging bi-partisan legislation to improve healthcare for Native Americans, and leading bi-partisan efforts to reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as a legislative fellow with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee led by Chairman Edward Kennedy. She is the first staffer to develop and implement a citywide strategic plan for youth sexual health in the District of Columbia legislature.  Tanchica has a passion for developing and implementing critical policy and public health initiatives so that every individual, family, and community can enjoy and benefit from good or improved health.

John Rigg, MPA, MHA

University of Washington–Seattle
2006 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health
What is John up to these days?
John Rigg is a Senior Advisor to the Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the US Department of Health and Human Services.  John has been an HHS employee since 2010, serving most of that time as the Director of the Office of Policy Analysis.  Prior to his work at HRSA, he was a Senior Medicare Analyst at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Legislation.  While at CMS, in addition to his legislative work, John also had significant policy responsibilities over Medicare outpatient drug policy.  Recently, John has also served on several long-term details within HHS, including leading the HHS initiative “Accelerate Clinical Innovation” within the Office of the Secretary, and as Senior Advisor and Acting Chief of Staff at the Indian Health Service.  In 2016-2017, John was a White House Leadership Development Program fellow, where he led several initiatives for the Executive Office of the President.

Prior to his executive branch service, John worked at the California Hospital Association and in the legislative branch as a health policy fellow for the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee of the House of Representatives, and for the Government Accountability Office (GAO.  John’s first career was as a Paramedic-Firefighter in Atlanta and in Washington State, and he still practices emergency medicine as a volunteer Paramedic in Calvert County (MD).  John lives with his wife and two sons in College Park, MD, where he serves as a member of the non-partisan College Park City Council.  He has a Master of Public Administration and a Master of Health Administration with a focus on Health Policy from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University.

Martin Sobel, MPA

New York University
2006 Fellow
United States Senate Committee on Finance
What is Martin up to these days?
Martin Sobel provides U.S. healthcare-focused advisory services to equity sponsors and healthcare companies. As a Director in Marwood’s Advisory Group, Mr. Sobel has led over 100 engagements providing clients with integrated analysis—federal, state, private pay, and market research. Many of Mr. Sobel’s engagements have been related to the DPM/DSO sector, offering clients a perspective on relevant reimbursement, regulatory, and legislative matters. Immediately prior to joining the Marwood Group, Mr. Sobel worked in Washington, D.C. as a health policy advisor to Senator John Cornyn (TX), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and before that to Senator Chuck Grassley (IA), former Chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. Mr. Sobel had gone to Washington D.C., in 2006, as one of two recipients of the postgraduate David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship.

Mayra Alvarez, MHA

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2005 Fellow
Placement: Office of United States Senator Barack Obama
What is Mayra doing now

Mayra E. Alvarez, MHA is President of The Children's Partnership, a nonprofit advocacy organization working to advance child health equity by ensuring all children have the resources and opportunities they need to grow up healthy and lead productive lives. In 2021, she was named by President Biden to the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. In 2019, she was nominated by California Governor Gavin Newsom to serve on the First 5 California Commission and the Early Childhood Policy Council and in 2017, by then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve on the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC).

Prior to The Children’s Partnership, Ms. Alvarez completed a several-year set of assignments at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the administration of President Barack Obama. She served as the Director of the State Exchange Group for the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and led a team responsible for supporting states in the establishment of Health Insurance Marketplaces.  Previously, Ms. Alvarez served as the Associate Director for the HHS Office of Minority Health, where she led the coordination of OMH’s work related to the Affordable Care Act, community health workers, and language access. Prior to this role, Ms. Alvarez served as Director of Public Health Policy in the Office of Health Reform at HHS where she had primary oversight responsibility for coordinated and timely implementation of the public health, prevention, and health care workforce policy provisions in the Affordable Care Act.

Before joining the Obama Administration, Ms. Alvarez served as a Legislative Assistant for Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and for then-Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis (D-CA). Ms. Alvarez began her professional career as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow in the office of then-Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).

She completed her graduate education at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her undergraduate education at the University of California at Berkeley. She is originally from outside San Diego, CA, and is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants.

Jay Khosla, JD, MHA

Virginia Commonwealth University
2005 Fellow
Placement: Office of United States Senator Bill Frist

Rachel Nuzum, MPH

University of South Florida
2004 Fellow
Placement: Office of United Senator States Jeff Bingaman

Katie (Baker) Starkey, MS

Pennsylvania State University
2004 Fellow
Placement: Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services - Agency for Health Care Research & Quality
Diana Birkett, MPH, MPA

Diana Birkett, MPH, MPA

University of Washington – Seattle
2003 Fellow
Placement: United States Senate Committee on Finance
What is Diana up to these days?
Diana Birkett Rakow leads Alaska's government affairs, corporate communications and community relations teams in Alaska, Hawaii, San Francisco and Seattle. Together, they are responsible for developing Air Group's legacy of good corporate citizenship. Diana is passionate about fueling organizational strategy and culture through a deep understanding of our guests, community and environment. Alaska is growing in leaps and bounds, and she's focused on deepening our reputation for engaging with and giving back to communities throughout the west coast. With ample experience leading organizations through change, she oversees internal communication efforts that keep employees informed of our strategy and committed to our purpose of creating an airline people love. Diana joined Alaska Airlines in 2017. Prior to Alaska, Diana served as vice president of public affairs, communications and brand management at Kaiser Permanente of Washington through its acquisition of Group Health Cooperative. With Group Health since 2006, she was executive vice president of public affairs and marketing and also led the company’s philanthropy strategy as president of Group Health Foundation. Before that, Diana spent three years on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in Washington, D.C. as a health policy advisor.

Diana holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and master’s degrees in public administration and public health from the University of Washington. She serves on the boards of the Greater

Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Science Center, and is a previous 40 under 40 Honoree by the Puget Sound Business Journal .

Chad Shearer, JD, MHA

Chad Shearer, JD, MHA

University of Iowa
2003 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health
What is Chad up to these days?
Chad Shearer is Vice President for Policy at the United Hospital Fund (UHF) where he oversees work to build a more effective health care system in New York through initiatives focusing on children’s health, innovation, insurance and Medicaid. He leads a team of experts engaged in policy and health system landscape analysis, identification and promotion of delivery system and payment reform innovations, and convening diverse audiences to collaborate on major health policy issues in New York. Mr. Shearer also directs UHF’s Medicaid Institute, conducting data and policy analyses explaining New York's Medicaid program which serves over 6 million low-income New Yorkers at a cost of over $70 billion annually.
Previously, Mr. Shearer was at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs at Princeton University, where he served as deputy director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health Reform Assistance Network, a project coordinating technical assistance to 11 states implementing the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansion provisions. He was also a lecturer in public affairs at the university, teaching a graduate capstone policy workshop. Mr. Shearer also spent time at the Center for Health Care Strategies, where he helped shape its Medicaid Leadership Institute. Before that, he served as legislative director for Congressman Pete Stark, who was Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, in the United States House of Representatives.
Mr. Shearer holds both law and master of health administration degrees from the University of Iowa.

Meghan Taira, MPH

Yale University
2002 Fellow
Placement: Office of United States Senator Tom Daschle

Rochelle Archuleta, MBA, MHSA

University of Alabama at Birmingham
2001 Fellow
Placement: Office of United States Representative Pete Stark

What is Rochelle up to these days?
Rochelle is the Policy Director for the American Hospital Association, focusing on post-acute care issues.  She works with hospitals nationwide, the Congress, the Administration, and other stakeholders to develop and advocate for AHA members’ policy priorities. Prior to joining the AHA in 2002, Ms. Archuleta served as the David Winston Health Policy Fellow with the U.S. House of Representatives Ways & Means Health Subcommittee.  She also provided policy and operations leadership for the Baptist Health System of Alabama, Kaiser Permanente in the Denver marketplace, and Valley-Wide Health Services in Colorado.  In addition, Ms. Archuleta worked as a policy analyst for the Colorado State Legislature.  A Colorado native, Ms. Archuleta earned Master’s Degrees in Health Administration and Business Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  She also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Ms. Archuleta is a Board Member of Unity Health Care, a network of 29 community health centers located throughout Washington DC, which provides comprehensive primary healthcare services to uninsured and under-insured individuals.

Sybil Richard, RPH, MHA, JD

Indiana University
2000 Fellow
Placement: Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services
What is Sybil up to these days?
Sybil Green is the Director of Coverage and Reimbursement at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Alexandria, Virginia where she leads efforts to ensure access to and payment for high quality care for cancer patients at all disease stages and trough survivorship. ASCO is the national organization representing over 35,000 physicians and other healthcare professionals specializing in cancer treatment, diagnosis, and prevention. ASCO members are also dedicated to conducting research that leads to improved patient outcomes; the organization is committed to ensuring that evidence-based practices for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer are available to all individuals. Last Spring, Sybil took on the role of Adjunct Professor at the George Washington University, where she teaches Introduction to U.S. Health Services Delivery for Masters of Public Health Students at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. Before joining ASCO, Sybil founded Segue Health Partners, where she served as the President. Segue Health Partners is a professional entity dedicated to access, quality and equity in health care. In her role, she provided support services to providers and health care entities in the areas of regulatory affairs, compliance and professional development. Sybil formerly served as Vice President of Health and Wellness Compliance at Walmart Stores where she had the responsibility for assuring the quality of clinical services provided to Walmart’s Health & Wellness patients, including Pharmacy and Optical, through regulatory compliance, quality improvement programming, professional development and training and education. She has also served on College of Pharmacy Boards of Visitors for Howard University, University of Florida and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Prior to joining Walmart, she was the Deputy Secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals. She also served as the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and Director of Policy and Programs for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. Sybil earned a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from Xavier University in Louisiana. She also has a Juris Doctor and Master of Health Administration, both from Indiana University. Sybil was the 2000 David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow, and in 2011she received Certification in Healthcare compliance.  

Jason Ormsby, PhD, MBA, MHSA

Arizona State University
1999 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health

 

What is Jason up to these days?
As the Chief Healthcare Innovation Officer, Dr. Ormsby leads Aptive’s efforts to ensure patients and providers experience high quality and safe care, including national efforts around high reliability and enhanced care delivery. Dr. Ormsby also leads the alignment of digital-enabled business and health system transformation resources across the enterprise in support of the organization's overall strategic goals.

Across hundreds of public and private settings, Dr. Ormsby has expertise in health quality strategy and governance, quality measurement, performance improvement, patient safety, accreditation, health system planning, care coordination, delivery innovations, high reliability and accountable care organizations, Medicare value-based payment, federal program evaluation, health professional and patient education, change management and knowledge translation. Within these focus areas, he’s led national initiatives involving quality-based payment models for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; quality, safety, improvement and high reliability solutions for the Defense Health Agency’s Patient Safety Program and Office of Strategy Management; COVID recovery for Indian Health Services; and healthcare evaluations for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the U.S. Congress.

With 15 years supporting the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Dr. Ormsby has led national quality, safety, accreditation and program evaluation efforts for the VHA Offices of Quality, Safety and Value; Policy and Planning; Rural Health; and Women’s Health, as well as the VHA Health Services Research and Development Service, Office of Research and Development and the Interagency Care Coordination Committee. With these efforts, he has visited and/or surveyed nearly 75 VHA facilities.

Before Aptive, Dr. Ormsby led Deloitte’s Quality, Safety and Improvement Offering across federal health accounts and developed his expertise at the Joint Commission, Mayo Clinic and U.S. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee as the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow. Previously a full-time faculty member in the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, he continues to lead its health quality and Lean Six Sigma curriculum as an LSS Black Belt.

 

Deborah (Veres) Mizeur, MHA

University of Washington–Seattle
1998 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health
What is Deborah up to these days?
Deborah Mizeur is a clinician, teacher, and advocate dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities, whether as an adviser to policymakers, with patients in her private clinical practice or on her farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

For more than twenty-five years, Deborah has honed her expertise in health care systems and financing, quality, and access in a professional career that has spanned working in the Alaska State Legislature and the United States Congress and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels to private sector firms and public non-profit organizations specializing in these fields. Ten years ago, Ms. Mizeur left Capitol Hill at the peak of her career to pursue clinical studies.  Now, as an integrative, holistic practitioner, Deborah Mizeur plays a more direct role in helping people achieve and maintain health.

Through her uncommon professional experience, Deborah serves as a bridge between the worlds of policy and medicine and is sought out for her unique contributions to health systems innovation.  In 2016, Deborah was appointed by the State of Maryland to head a working group on the future of rural health care for the State.  The consensus recommendations that were adopted after 14- months of deliberation are considered a significant contribution to the national discussion.

 

Deborah Mizeur received an MS in Herbal Medicine from the Maryland University of Integrative Health, a Master of Health Administration from the University of Washington and a B.A. in government from the University of Alaska, her home State.  Deborah enjoys finding connections between seemingly disparate systems and she is passionate about reconnecting people with nature.  Deborah has created a boutique healing retreat center on her 34-acre permaculture farm for this purpose.  In addition, Deborah owns an organic herbal products company specializing in custom formulations using many of the herbs she cultivates on the land.

Suzanne Yurk, JD, MPH

Johns Hopkins University
1997 Fellow
Placement: United States Health Care Financing Administration
What is Suzanne up to these days?
SUZANNE YURK did her placement as a Winston Fellow at CMS where she wrote Medicare regulations. She has been an Assistant Regional Counsel with the Office of General Counsel for the United States Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) for over 13 years. She began her career in HHS in the Office of General Counsel in the San Francisco Regional Office where she principally worked for CMS, handling Medicare reimbursement litigation in federal court as well as nursing home administrative litigation. She currently works as an Assistant Regional Counsel for HHS in the Office of General Counsel in the Philadelphia Regional Office providing legal advice to CMS and handling Medicare and Medicaid litigation. In 2014, she completed a “Senior Executive Service” Training program, an Executive Development Program designed exclusively for federal employees. As a component of that training program, she did a five month detail as the Manager for the Certification and Enforcement Branch in CMS, Region III. She spent one year as a Special Assistant United States Attorney doing general civil litigation for the Dept. of Justice in the Central District of California. She also spent one and half years in private practice at ReedSmith in the Health Care Practice Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She received her A.B. from Duke University, her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law, and her M.P.H. from The Johns Hopkins University.

Anna Fallieras, MPH

Johns Hopkins University
1996 Fellow
Placement: United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
What is Anna up to these days?
Anna Fallieras is Program Leader for Health Care Initiatives and Policy at GE. She is responsible for leading key health care initiatives at GE as well as the company’s role in catalyzing change in the health care system through multi-employer initiatives and the development of new, market-based strategies. Anna leads HealthAhead, GE’s global well-being program focused on improving the health of GE employees and their families. In her current role, Anna founded Catalyst for Payment Reform, a non-profit organization focused on catalyzing and coordinating opportunities to improve value through reforming the nation’s payment systems. She also represents the company domestically on employer issues related to health reform and market-based health policy and financing, with special focus on performance measurement and payment innovation. She is a member of various business coalition boards representing the interests of large employers. Prior to joining GE, Anna was the Vice President for Market Development at United Health Group. Additionally, Ms. Fallieras has held positions at Maryland’s Medicaid program, the Center for Health Care Strategies, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Lewin Group, and the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.   She has a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Public Administration and Bachelor of Arts from the Ohio State University.

Kara (Morgan) Adams, MSPH

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1995 Fellow  

Douglas Knoop, MD

University of Kentucky
1994 Fellow
Placement: Office of United States Represenative Newt Gingrich
What is Doug up to these days?
Dr. Doug Knoop is Executive Medical Director at Charlotte-based Healthstat, Inc., a national provider of employer-based onsite health and wellness clinics.  Dr. Knoop has extensive clinical experience as a board-certified otolaryngologist/head and neck surgeon.  He earned a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Kentucky while in practice in Lexington, KY.  Upon receiving his MHA, he was awarded the David A. Winston Distinguished Post-graduate Fellowship in Health Policy. Following a year of health policy study in Washington, DC, he worked with several insurers as medical director, including CIGNA and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. In addition to board certification in Otolaryngology/Head and Neck surgery, he is a Fellow or Member of numerous clinical academies and societies, including the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, the American Society for Head and Neck Surgery, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the NC Medical Society and the American College of Physician Executives, from which he earned Certified Physician Executive recognition. A Kentucky native, Dr. Knoop earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Louisville, and MD and MHA degrees from the University of Kentucky. His postgraduate surgical training was at NC Baptist Medical Center of the Wake Forest University College of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC.  

Brad Hansen, MA

University of Iowa
1993 Fellow
What is Brad up to these days?
Since completion of the Winston Fellowship in 1994, Brad Hansen has spent most of his career in health care with Methodist Health System in Omaha, Nebraska. Currently, Mr. Hansen is Vice President of Methodist Physicians Clinic, a 300-provider multispecialty group practice with locations in Nebraska and Iowa. Previous to this role, Mr. Hansen also served as Methodist Health System Planning Coordinator (1994 – 1998) and Vice President of Professional Services for Nebraska Methodist Hospital (2008 – 2012).
Mr. Hansen represented Council Bluffs and Carter Lake in the Iowa Legislature as State Representative (1996 – 2003). During his legislative career, Mr. Hansen was the primary author and sponsor of Iowa’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”) known as the Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (“HAWK-I”). He also led the effort to develop Iowa’s patient appeal process which restructured Iowa’s protections of patient rights in managed care plans. Mr. Hansen was also a key legislative player in Insurance, Energy and Banking issues.
Mr. Hansen left the legislature in 2003 to pursue a law degree from the University of Iowa which he earned in 2005. Mr. Hansen practiced law with Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, LLP in Chicago, Illinois from 2006 to 2008, focusing his practice in corporate law.
In addition to earning a law degree from the University of Iowa, Mr. Hansen also holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master’s Degree from the University of Iowa. Mr. Hansen lives in Omaha with his wife, Suzanne and three children, Isabella (age 13), Gretchen (age 4) and Everett (age 2).

Rosann Geiser, MHA

Xavier University
1992 Fellow
Placement: United States Health Care Financing Administration
What is Rosann up to these days?
I retired after teaching at University of WI Oshkosh in the College of Nursing from 2005 to 2015. One of my teaching responsibilities was Community Nursing. I was able to bring in examples of my experiences during the Winston Health Policy Fellowship especially as we were still dealing with the same health policy issues as during my fellowship. I was able to observe the transition from the Bush Administration to the Clinton Administration and Hilary’s health reform efforts that failed.

John Meurer, MD, MBA

Northwestern University
1991 Fellow
Placement: United States House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health, Voluntary Hospitals of America & American Academy of Pediatrics
What John is doing now
John Meurer, MD, MBA, is Professor of General Pediatrics and Community Health and Director of the Institute for Health & Equity at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The Institute includes 90 faculty, staff and PhD students in biostatistics, epidemiology, bioethics, and community health research and education. He leads several projects across Wisconsin to improve systems to optimize early childhood development. Dr Meurer co-directs management and policy courses for medical, pharmacy and public health students and a research fellowship in primary care, and is developing a masters program in precision medicine.

Christina Bethell, PhD, MBA, MPH

University of California–Berkeley
1990 Fellow

Roslyne (Weiner) Schulman, MHA

University of Pittsburgh
1989 Fellow
Placement: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
What is Roslyne up to these days?
Roslyne Schulman is a Director of Outpatient Payment, Emergency Response and Public Health Policy at the American Hospital Association (AHA).  She has been with AHA since January 1999.  Roslyne has primary policy responsibility for hospital disaster preparedness and response and leads the AHA’s efforts in this area, as well as leading the AHA’s staff team for hospital readiness.  In addition, Roslyne has primary policy responsibility in a number of other areas, including the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act; Medicare hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical center payment policy; FDA policy regarding drugs, blood and devices; clinical laboratory payment and regulation and other areas.  From 1992-1999, she worked for the American College of Emergency Physicians as Regulatory Representative, and from 1990-1992, she was a Legislative Assistant with the American Group Practice Association.  Ms. Schulman came to Washington, D.C. in 1989 as the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow.  She received her Masters of Health Administration and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 1989.  Ms. Schulman received her Bachelors of Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984.      

Jereen (Mackesy) Gilbert, MM

Northwestern University
1988 Fellow
Placement: AUPHA & Veterans Health Administration