Rachel Dolin completed her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management in May 2017 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. Her doctoral dissertation, Drivers of Live Discharge from the Medicare Hospice Program: A Mixed Methods Study, explored the provider- and market-based factors increasing the rate of live discharge from hospice across the United States over the last decade, employing both qualitative interviews and econometric data analysis techniques. Starting in 2009, Rachel worked as a researcher for L&M Policy Research, LLC, in Washington, D.C., where she contributed to numerous research contracts for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, as well as other federal, state, and private-sector clients. Through these research contracts, Rachel has applied a range of qualitative analytic skills to examine Affordable Care Act-related reforms and innovations, including accountable care organizations and the federally facilitated health insurance marketplaces. Rachel received her B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science and History from Tufts University.

Michael Budros hails from Traverse City, Michigan, and received his Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology Cognition and Neuroscience at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As a student, Michael worked to expand healthcare access to vulnerable populations by volunteering with non-profit community development and health organizations in Detroit and Liberia. Following graduation, Michael attended the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and received his Master of Public Health in Health Management and Policy and his Master of Public Policy. During this time, Michael worked for the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design in Ann Arbor, spent a summer in Ethiopia working for the United States Agency for International Development, and interned with the Government Accountability Office in Washington D.C. His main policy interests include healthcare financing, integration of social and healthcare services, and innovative solutions to rural health delivery.

Olivia Pham, born and raised in Oklahoma, received her Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Oklahoma in 2014. Following graduation, she attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received a Master of Science in Health Policy and Management. While living in North Carolina, she worked at the Internet Tobacco Vendors Study researching online tobacco and e-cigarette vendor compliance with federal and state law. She also served as a Marketplace Navigator during the 2015-2016 Open Enrollment Period and worked as an advocacy and policy intern at Ascension, the largest not-for-profit hospital system in the United States. After moving to Washington, D.C. to pursue the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship, she worked for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health under the leadership of Congressman Frank Pallone. Her main interest lies at the intersection of health policy research and the policymaking process, specifically regarding the ways in which research is applied to policymaking. Her other policy interests include the health care safety net, the effect of health policy on underserved populations, disparities in health care and health outcomes, and Medicaid and CHIP policy. Olivia is currently a Research Associate at the Georgetown Center for Children and Families.

Kripa Sreepada currently serves as Health Care Legislative Assistant to Congressman Joe Crowley. She is a former David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow and completed her fellowship placement with the Senate Finance Committee under Ranking Member Ron 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 Master 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, is a Presidential Management Fellow at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office. Her work focuses on beneficiaries who are dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid with the goal of making sure enrollees have full access to seamless, high quality health care in a cost-effective way. Her day-to-day consists of working with the Medicaid and Medicare programs, across federal agencies, states, and stakeholders to analyze how policies can be aligned and coordinated between the two programs effectively and efficiently. Prior to joining CMS, Lydia served as a David. A. Winston Health Policy Fellow with the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health, where she worked on policy issues relating to programs providing payments for health care, health delivery systems, and health research. Lydia has a Master of Public Health from the George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science from the University of Colorado Denver.

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, is the Powers’ Manager of Government Relations and focuses on federal healthcare, rehabilitation, and disability policy and advocacy for the firm’s clients.

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 of 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, a 2014-2015 Fellow, completed her placement with the majority Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. She had the opportunity to work on issues surrounding biomedical innovation and FDA reform, the ebola outbreak, and private health insurance. Currently, KT is the Director of State Health Policy with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). She earned her BA in international studies from Boston College and completed a joint JD/Masters in Health Administration program at Tulane University. While attending Tulane, KT worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the City of New Orleans Department of Health. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkmenistan from 2007-2009. For fun, KT likes to walk in the woods or paddle on the rivers of West Virginia and the Science Friday podcast.

Anne Dwyer serves as Senior Health Counsel for the United States Senate Finance Committee under Ranking Member Ron Wyden. As Senior Health Counsel, her portfolio includes Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, women’s health, mental and behavioral health, and prevention. Prior to joining the committee as professional staff, Ms. Dwyer was a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow. Before arriving in Washington, D.C., she spent time with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the Minnesota Disability Law Center, and the State of Wisconsin. As a Midwest native, Ms. Dwyer received a JD with a concentration in health law and bioethics from the University of Minnesota Law School, MPH in Public Health Administration and Policy from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and BA from the University of Wisconsin.

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, an associate working with Feldsman Tucker’s Health Law and Federal Grants practice groups, counsels a diverse array of organizations including Federally Qualified Health Centers, primary care associations, and Head Start programs. Elizabeth’s practice focuses mainly on assisting clients with grants compliance, provider collaborations, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement issues, and implementation of the Affordable Care Act.In her work, Elizabeth strives to ensure that her clients are meeting the obligations of the statutes and agreements that underlie their grant. Recognizing the many strings that attach to federal grants, Elizabeth assists clients with navigating these requirements, including the drafting contracts to ensure that organizations are appropriately passing through any grant requirements to contractors Elizabeth’s background is in national health care policy-making. Prior to joining the firm, Elizabeth 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. While earning a joint J.D. /M.P.H. degree from the University of Minnesota, she worked at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, offering her insight into the management of legal issues at one of the nation’s largest integrated providers. Elizabeth is well aware of the challenge to implement and remain in compliance with federal policies. She strives to make sure that despite these challenges, her clients are still able to carry out their programs and fulfill their mission.  

Yajuan Lu is a government affairs and policy senior manager serving the Johnson & Johnson China team. Since she joined the company in 2013, Yajuan has been responsible for developing position papers and long-term strategies regarding China’s and emerging markets’ trends of the health care industry. She also designs and oversees health policy research projects concerning China’s overall health care system, identifies critical policy barrier impacting the access and quality of care provided for the public and seeks partnership opportunities and solutions to remove such hurdles. Prior to her current position, 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. Before Capitol Hill, Yajuan worked as a health policy researcher and analyst on a grant-based international research project that was funded by University of Pittsburgh Center for Global Health. During law school, she worked in the traditional legal settings at a few prominent national and international health care organizations, including in the legal departments of the Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO), and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Corporate (UPMC). Yajuan has a J.D. from 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. Yajuan is also an active member of Asian Pacific American Bar Association D.C. Chapter, and the Washington D.C. Chinese Legal Association. Yajuan is a proud fifth generation of “Beijinger”. She currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband and daughter.

Swarna Vallurupalli currently serves as Health Counsel to a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee. She previously served as health and tax counsel in the Senate. 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 is currently working at a Medstar Washington Hospital Center as a Cardiac ICU RN. 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 in England 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 already seeing the benefits of combining the insight that she gained while researching and working on health policy with her current work in direct individual and public health as a registered nurse.

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 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 R. Oakar was formerly the Associate Director of Let's Move! in the Office of the First Lady at the White House. Prior to joining the Let's Move! team, she was a Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of National AIDS Policy. She previously served as the Director of Public Health Policy in the Office of Health Reform at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she had primary oversight responsibility for the coordinated and timely implementation of the public health, prevention, and health care workforce policy provisions of the Affordable Care Act. She began her work in Washington, D. C. as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow. She has also been a Fellow in the Reproductive Health and Research Department at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland and has conducted community-based research with low-income cancer survivors and safety net clinics. Ms. Oakar completed her graduate education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and her undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame. She is originally from outside Cleveland, Ohio.  

John Barkett is the Senior Director of Policy Affairs for Willis Towers Watson Exchange Solutions. He previously worked for Extend Health, the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange, before it was acquired by Towers Watson in 2012. John is responsible for strategy development as it pertains to both federal and state health policy, as well as the product development and marketing of Towers Watson’s various exchange solutions. Before joining Extend Health, John spent two and a half years in Washington, D.C., where he contributed to the writing, passage, and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. John served on the health subcommittee staff of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives in 2009 where he drafted and negotiated the final details of legislation aimed at reducing fraud in the Medicare program. After the bill’s passage, John joined the staff of the Office of Health Reform in the Department of Health and Human Services, where he helped guide the implementation of all sections of the Affordable Care Act related to delivery system reform. Previously, John worked for athenahealth, Inc., a revenue-cycle management and electronic medical record company, and Medica HealthCare Plans, Inc., a Medicare Advantage plan. John earned an MBA in health care management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he won the Robert D. Eilers Award for health care innovation and service to the community. He graduated cum laude from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a secondary field in health care policy.

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.  After the Fellowship, Devon focused on implementation of the Health Insurance Exchanges and healthcare.gov at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she led various Exchange policy, operations and technology strategic initiatives. Currently, Devon is a senior advisor in CMS working on cross-cutting issues.  Devon has a master's degree in Health Administration from Penn State University.  

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 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 is a Principal at Venn Strategies, a government affairs firm in Washington DC. She leads the firm's health care team, and works with government agencies, non-profit health care providers, and advocacy coalitions. Prior to joining Venn, she was a political appointee in the Obama Administration, serving as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Elizabeth also worked as a legislative aide to Senator Tammy Baldwin.

Tanchica Terry (MPH, MA) began her health policy career in the capital through the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship in 2007, working as a legislative fellow in the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. There she learned firsthand about the political process, earning an honorable mention in the Congressional Record for her work towards the reauthorization of legislation to improve health for persons living with HIV/AIDS and Native Americans. Terry’s educational background and expertise in government financing of healthcare–along with an informed public health perspective–led to subsequent positions in the D.C. City Council, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, and Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight where she provided expert technical knowledge and recommendations and on the implementation of health care law and policies including the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program and Navigator Programs. Now with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration as a Senior Public Health Advisor, Terry brings her expertise to the implementation of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and Affordable Care Act.

John Rigg is the Director of the HRSA Office of Policy Analysis, where he has been since 2012. 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 operational responsibilities over Medicare outpatient drug policy. Prior to his federal service, John worked as Vice President for Federal Policy in the Washington DC office of the California Hospital Association. John came to Washington as a recipient of the Winston Health Policy Fellowship, a well-regarded, post-graduate health policy fellowship, which had him working on Capitol Hill for the House of Representatives, Ways & Means Health Subcommittee. John’s first career was as a Paramedic-Firefighter, and he still practices emergency medicine as a volunteer Paramedic in Calvert County (MD).

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.

Ms. Mayra E. Alvarez is the President of The Children’s Partnership, a national, nonprofit child advocacy organization with offices in Santa Monica, California, and Washington DC. The Children’s Partnership focuses particular attention on the goals of ensuring that all children have the health care they need and that the opportunities afforded by computing devices and the Internet benefit all children and families. The Children's Partnership works both at the national level and at the state level in California--home to one in eight children in the U.S., concentrating on the intersection of federal and state policies in order to maximize the benefits for children and families.   Most recently, Ms. Alvarez 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 at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this role, Ms. Alvarez led a team responsible for supporting states in the establishment of Health Insurance Marketplaces, including State-based Marketplaces, State Partnership Marketplaces, and Federally-facilitated Marketplace states. This support includes grant awards, technical assistance, oversight, and monitoring of the Marketplace program.   On behalf of the Administration, Ms. Alvarez was an accomplished bilingual spokesperson on the Affordable Care Act and other health issues for national and regional broadcast, print and online media, including New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, National Public Radio, Univision, Telemundo, CNN en Español, and various state and local outlets. Previous to her CMS position, 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, as well as serving as the Project Director of OMH’s Center for Linguistic and Cultural Competency in Health Care. Previously, 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. Prior to joining the Administration, Ms. Alvarez served as a Legislative Assistant for Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Majority Whip of the U.S. Senate, where she advised the Senator and helped develop his legislative agenda on health issues. Prior to working in the office of Senator Durbin, she served as a Legislative Assistant for then-Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis, the chair of the Health Task Force for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Ms. Alvarez began her work in Washington D.C. as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow in the office of then-Senator Barack Obama. 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.

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 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 $60 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 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.

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 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, is a leader for Deloitte’s Monitor Strategy practice, where he touches most federal healthcare agencies and provides expertise in health systems, coverage, quality measurement, value-based purchasing, process improvement, health professional education, patient safety and accreditation. Prior to Deloitte, Dr. Ormsby was Senior Vice President at Atlas Research, with a wide array of care delivery improvements in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) involving quality, safety, accreditation preparedness, patient centered care models, rural health, women’s health, and collaborations between the VA and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Department of Defense, and other stakeholders. He also ran initiatives for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), supporting the development of nearly 20 value-based purchasing models within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), quality and patient safety improvement initiatives targeting vulnerable hospitals through HRSA, and agency-wide process improvements for CMS’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO). Since 2004, through his faculty positions within the Georgetown University Department of Health Systems Administration and George Washington University School of Public Health, Dr. Ormsby teaches on quality, health policy and management theory, and as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt leads a process improvement education curriculum which has provided LSS Green Belt certifications for nearly 200 graduate students and health professionals, as well as 30+ improvement solutions for hospitals and health systems. Dr. Ormsby began his career in healthcare administration at Mayo Clinic, where he focused on the quality of care delivery and the implementation and meaningful use of HIT. After winning the Winston Health Policy Fellowship, Dr. Ormsby served as professional staff for the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, working on numerous Medicare quality measurement and improvement issues under Chairman Bill Thomas. Prior to joining Atlas Research, Dr. Ormsby handled federal relations for the Joint Commission and represented the organization to CMS, VA and national quality and HIT advisory bodies, including the National Quality Forum, Hospital Quality Alliance, Ambulatory Quality Alliance, Quality Alliance Steering Committee, American Health Information Community, and National eHealth Collaborative.    

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 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.

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.  

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).

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 (Winston fellow 1991), is Professor and Director of the Institute for Health and Society at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The Institute includes research and education in biostatistics, epidemiology, bioethics and population health improvement. Dr. Meurer teaches pediatrics and leads community-engaged research to control chronic conditions. He directs a medical student pathway in health systems management and policy and is co-investigator of a new CDC/NIH study of the effect of ACA Medicaid expansion on diabetes. The Winston Fellowship provided an influential network of policy leaders and valuable insights in the policymaking process. John recommends prospective fellows read about every person who you meet and write a summary of learnings at the end of the fellowship.

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.