Advisory Board

Meet the members of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows advisory board, who assess all applicants and select outstanding fellows each year based on the selection criteria and goals of the program:

Doug Campos-Outcalt, MD, MPA

Senior Lecturer and Clinical Professor, University of Arizona  / Phoenix, AZ

Doug Campos-Outcalt, MD, MPA, is a Senior Lecturer in the University Of Arizona College of Public Health and a Clinical Professor in the College of Medicine. He recently retired as Medical Director for Mercy Care Plan, a Medicaid health plan in Arizona, serving 300,000 members. Previously he was the Chair of the Department of Family, Community and Preventive Medicine at the University Of Arizona College Of Medicine, Phoenix and the Director of the MD/MPH dual degree program. He has been a medical and public health educator for over 30 years.

Dr. Campos-Outcalt has served as a scientific analyst for the American Academy of Family Physicians for 8 years (2006-2014) and during that time served as the AAFP liaison to the United States Preventive Services Task Force. He was a member of the Evaluation of Genomics Applied in Practice and Prevention (EGAPP) Working Group (from 2008- 2015), which assessed the evidence behind genomic diagnostic tests, and was a member of the the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC for 9 years; 5 as a liaison and 4 as a voting member (term ended in 2015). He was recently appointed as a member of the Community Preventive Services Task Force and the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee and also serves as the Chair of the AAFP Science Advisory Panel.

Dr. Campos-Outcalt has been the Medical Director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health and Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. He has served on the National Advisory Councils of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research and the National Health Service Corps and in 2001-2002 was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow. He has been a family physician in the town of Guadalupe Arizona and in South Phoenix and has served on numerous clinical practice guideline panels. He maintains an interest in evidence- based medicine and public health, clinical preventive medicine, and community interventions to improve health and reduce health care disparities.

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Judith B. Collins, RN, MS, WHNP-BC, FAAN

Associate Professor Emerita, School of Nursing, Virginia Commonwealth University / Richmond, VA

Judith B. Collins, RN, MS, WHNP-BC, FAAN,  Founding Director of the comprehensive VCU Women’s Health Center at Stony Point Park (1993-2000) and Associate Professor Emerita, Schools of Nursing and Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia Campus (VCU/MCV), Richmond, Virginia. Ms. Collins retired in 2000 after more than 30 years of service at the University. Ms. Collins earned her BSN from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1962; MS in Maternal-Child Health from Boston University, 1968; and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate from VCU/MCV, 1975, a program she co-initiated and directed. Throughout her nursing career, she has held positions in nursing services, administration, and education. She served on the Hospital Ship HOPE in Nicaragua, Central America in 1966-67. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in Washington, D.C. in 1982-83 serving in the Congressional Office of Congressman Richard A. Gephardt. Following the Fellowship, Ms. Collins initiated the VCU/MCV Health Policy Office in the Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences to focus on governmental relations and health policy issues and education. She was the Director of the Health Policy Office from 1983-1993 and worked with members of the Virginia General Assembly on a wide range of health issues.

Throughout her over 40-year career as a Nurse Practitioner, Ms. Collins as has been engaged in practice, education, certification, regulation and professional organizations. She was appointed by the Governor to the Virginia Board of Nursing and the Joint Boards of Nursing and Medicine. In addition, she has served on multiple state and national task forces addressing advancement of Nurse Practitioner practice to the full extent of their education and training, including prescriptive authority, to meet the access to care needs for patients and their families.

Ms. Collins is a nationally known speaker, consultant and writer in the areas of women’s health care, health policy, and nurse practitioner issues. Ms.Collins co-authored a book chapter in Women’s Health, A Primary Care Clinical Guide entitled “Women and the  Health Care System” and co-authored a chapter in the 2011, 6th Ed. and 2015, 7th Ed., Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care. She has served on multiple Boards and Task Forces focused on health policy issues including nursing and nurse practitioners, infant mortality, maternal-child health, indigent health care and health professional standards. Ms. Collins has been a leader in multiple nursing professional organizations including the American Nurses Association, Virginia Nurses Association, and Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners.

Ms. Collins has held leadership positions in many community and professional organizations on the local, state, and national levels. She was the first Chair of the National Alliance of Nurse Practitioners that evolved into the America College of Nurse Practitioners; National Vice-President of NAACOG (now AWHONN); Vice President, The National Certification Corporation (NCC) for Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nurses; Board Member, National Center for Certification, Preparation and Review (CCPR); Board Member, American College of Nurse Midwives Certification Council; Founding Board Member and Chair, Women’s Health Virginia; Chair, Virginia Capital Area March of Dimes; Board Member and Co-Chair of the Advisory Council, The YWCA of Richmond; Trustee, The Children’s Hospital; Past Chair and Trustee, Richmond Memorial Health Foundation; Past Chair, Virginia Council on the Status of Women Board (appointed by the Governor); Board Member, Centralized Credentialing Verification Service, Inc. of the Richmond Academy of Medicine; Advisory Board to the Nurse Leadership Institute of Virginia; Trustee and Chair, Development Committee MCV Foundation; Advisory Board, Children’s Hospital at VCU.

In retirement, Ms. Collins has remained very active as a volunteer on many university, community, state and national boards and foundations. She and her husband, Joseph Teefey have enjoyed traveling and being involved with their children and 6 grandchildren including a set of triplets!

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Michelle Dennison, PhD, RD/LD, BC-ADM, CDE

Vice President, Policy, Diabetes and Prevention, Oklahoma City Indian Clinic / Oklahoma City, OK

Michelle Dennison PhD, RD/LD, BC-ADM, CDE, is the Health Policy Liaison and Metabolic Care Center Administrator at the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic.  She is responsible for developing effective relationships that lead to health policies that benefit the American Indian population specifically around diabetes/diabetes prevention, HIV and chronic disease prevention/health promotion.  She also manages federal and private foundation grants for the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic.  Dr. Dennison is a previous Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow.  During her Fellowship, Dr. Dennison was placed in the office of the U.S. Surgeon General.
Dr. Dennison has extensive experience in providing quality diabetes and diabetes prevention programming.  She is a founder of the renowned Native Youth Preventing Diabetes Coalition and Oklahoma Intertribal Diabetes Coalition. She is a previous awardee of the National Congress of American Indians Graduate Health Fellowship, the National Indian Health Board’s Area/Regional Impact Award, and the Indian Health Service’s award for Exceptional Performance for Health Promotion and Wellness.  She also served as a co-author for the American Diabetes Association's Nutrition Therapy for Adults with Diabetes or Pre-Diabetes:  A Consensus Report.  She is currently assisting with planning for the National Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists 2021 annual meeting and serves as the ADCES local Grassroots Coordinator.  Michelle is also contributing to the National Diabetes Self Management Education Standards Revision and is the author of the American Indian Food and Culture Chapter of the Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics Food and Culture Book (in-review).

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Nancy E. Dunlap, MD, PhD, MBA

Professor Emerita and Scholar, Lister Hill Center for Health Policy, University of Alabama and President of the Alabama Public Health Institute / Birmingham, AL

Nancy E. Dunlap, MD, PhD, MBA, is Professor Emerita of Medicine, Scholar at the Lister Hill Center for Health Policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and President of the Alabama Public Health Institute.  She has practiced medicine in the field of pulmonary critical care for over 25 years and held executive positions in two academic medical centers, most recently as Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia.  She served as the Medical Director for the Tuberculosis Control Unit of the Alabama Department of Public Health, Vice President for Ambulatory Services of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Health System, and Chief Operating Officer of the Kirklin Clinic, the faculty practice site for UAB.  Nancy participated in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellowship Program where she worked on the Health Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce in the U.S. House of Representatives.  She later served as Physician-in-Residence at the Center for Best Practices at the National Governor’s Association in Washington D. C. helping states address issues related to health. Throughout her career, Nancy has worked to improve healthcare quality and outcomes through more efficient patient care delivery processes and information technology.  Nancy is now working through the Alabama Public Health Institute to bridge government and private efforts to improve the health of the people of Alabama.  Nancy holds a M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine, Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

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G. William Hoagland, MS

Senior Vice President, Bipartisan Policy Center / Washington, DC

William Hoagland is a BPC senior vice president. In this capacity, he helps direct and manage fiscal, health, and economic policy analyses.

Before joining BPC in September 2012, Hoagland served as vice president of public policy for CIGNA Corporation, working with business leaders, trade associations, business coalitions, and interest groups to develop CIGNA policy on health care reform issues at both the federal and state levels.

Prior to joining CIGNA, Hoagland completed 33 years of federal government service, including 25 years on the U.S. Senate staff. From 2003 to 2007, he served as the director of budget and appropriations in the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He assisted in evaluating the fiscal impact of major legislation and helped to coordinate budget policy for the Senate leadership.

From 1982 to 2003, Hoagland served as a staff member and director of the Senate Budget Committee, reporting to U.S. Sen. Pete V. Domenici, chairman and ranking member of the committee during this period. He participated in major federal budget negotiations, including the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Budget Deficit Reduction Act, the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, and the historic 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement.

In 1981, he served as the administrator of the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and as a special assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture. He was one of the first employees of the Congressional Budget Office in 1975, working with its first director, Alice Rivlin.

In both 1997 and 2005, National Journal listed him as one of the “Washington 100 Decision Makers” and referred to him as a “bottom-liner who is not a hard-liner.” Roll Call consistently named Hoagland as one of the top 50 Hill staffers. In 2002, he received the James L. Blum Award for Distinguished Service in Budgeting. The National Association of State Budget Officers honored him in 2004 with its Leadership in Budgeting Award, and in 2006 he was inducted as a fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration.

Hoagland is an affiliate professor of public policy at the George Mason University and a board member of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and the National Advisory Committee to the Workplace Flexibility 2010 Commission. In 2009, he was appointed to the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform examining the overall structure of the budget, authorization, and appropriations process, and was a member of BPC’s Debt Reduction Task Force that published Restoring America’s Future in November 2010. He coordinated BPC’s 2013 report, A Bipartisan Rx for Patient-Centered Care and System-Wide Cost Containment. In April 2015, he co-chaired the National Academy of Social Insurance report, “Addressing Pricing Power in Health Care Markets.”

Hoagland attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and holds degrees from Purdue University and The Pennsylvania State University. His family’s Indiana family farm was recognized as a “Hoosier Homestead” for having remained in the family for over a century.

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Lisa Kaplowitz, MD, MSHA

Consultant, Virginia Department of Health / Arlington, VA

Lisa Kaplowitz is Public Health Physician and Deputy Health Officer for Arlington County, Virginia, a position she has held since April, 2019. Prior to this position, she had a number of positions within the US Department of Health and Human Services from 2010-2019. From October, 2015-March, 2019, she served as Senior Medical Advisor both within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) addressing issues related to healthcare response to emergency events, and in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), focusing on HIV/AIDS and hepatitis policy issues, both domestic and international, as well as healthcare professional training on opioid issues. From March, 2010-October, 2015 she was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, responsible for directing and coordinating policy and strategic planning for the Office of the ASPR. From July, 2008 until February, 2010, Dr. Kaplowitz was Director of the Health Department for the City of Alexandria in Northern Virginia, responsible for all public health activities in the city and involved in emergency preparedness in the National Capital Region. From 2002 until July, 2008, she was Deputy Commissioner for Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R) in the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), responsible for the development and implementation of Virginia’s public health and medical response to all natural and man made emergencies, in coordination with hospitals, health care systems and emergency response organizations in Virginia and the National Capital Region.

During the 20 years prior to joining VDH, Dr. Kaplowitz was a faculty member in the Department of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), focused on HIV/AIDS clinical care and education, as well as supporting community based organizations and Ryan White programs statewide. She was Director of the VCU HIV/AIDS Center and the Mid-Atlantic AIDS Education and Training Center, as well as Medical Director of Telemedicine and Ambulatory Care for the VCU Health System. She obtained her MD degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina. She was a health policy fellow with the Institute of Medicine (now National Academy of Medicine) in Washington D.C. in 1996-1997, working in Senator Jay Rockefeller’s Office on health financing and end of life care. Dr. Kaplowitz completed a Masters of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) at VCU in 2002. In addition to public health and emergency preparedness, she has a strong interest in health policy, health care financing, improving access to health care and addressing social determinants of health.

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Alan I. Leshner, PhD

CEO Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science / Washington, DC

Alan I. Leshner, PhD, is CEO Emeritus of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  He served as Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of the journal Science between December 2001 – February 2015.  AAAS (triple A-S) was founded in 1848 and is the world’s largest, multi-disciplinary scientific and engineering society.

Before coming to AAAS, Dr. Leshner was Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) from 1994-2001.  Before becoming Director of NIDA, Dr. Leshner had been the Deputy Director and Acting Director of the National Institute of Mental Health.  He went to NIMH from the National Science Foundation (NSF), where he held a variety of senior positions, focusing on basic research in the biological, behavioral and social sciences, science policy and science education.

Dr. Leshner went to NSF after 10 years at Bucknell University, where he was Professor of Psychology.  He has also held long-term appointments at the Postgraduate Medical School in Budapest, Hungary; at the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center; and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.  Dr. Leshner is the author of a textbook on the relationship between hormones and behavior, and has published extensively for both the scientific and lay communities on the biology of behavior, science and technology policy, science education, and public engagement with science.

Dr. Leshner received an undergraduate degree in psychology from Franklin and Marshall College, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physiological psychology from Rutgers University.  He also has been awarded seven honorary Doctor of Science degrees.  Dr. Leshner is an elected fellow of AAAS, the National Academy of Public Administration, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and many other professional societies.  He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and served two terms on its governing Council.  He was appointed to the National Science Board by President Bush in 2004 and reappointed by President Obama in 2011.

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Janice Phillips, PhD, RN, CENP, FAAN

Associate Professor, Department of Community, Systems and Mental Health Nursing, College of Nursing; Director, Nursing Research and Health Equity, Rush University / Chicago, IL

Janice Phillips PhD, RN, CENP, FAAN, completed the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship in 2011 working in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-VA) where she analyzed complex data in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and prescription drug abuse legislation. From 2013-2017, Janice assumed the role of Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at CGFNS International where she helped position the organization in receiving their 5-year reauthorization from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to issue Visa Screen® certificates to foreign educated health care professionals and securing first time NGO Consultative Status with the United Nations. Since 2017, as the Director of Nursing Research and Health Equity at Rush University Medical Center and an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing, Dr. Phillips serves as a system wide leader in supporting health equity as a shared goal and integrating health equity across the Rush Health system’s education, research, and clinical endeavors. She is the author of over 100 publications, 5 edited textbooks, and the inaugural health policy columnist for the Minority Nurse magazine. Her OpEds have appeared in Scientific American, the Hill, and U.S. News and World Report. Janice is a member of the American Academy of Nursing and the recipient of numerous awards including the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award, the Nursing Spectrum Advancing and Leading the Profession Award and the Marcia Pencak Murphy Presidential Mentorship Award. In 2019, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra appointed Janice to serve on the National Advisory Council of Nursing Education and Practice and in 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker appointed her to serve on the Illinois State Board of Health. Dr. Phillips holds a BSN from North Park College, an MS in Community Health from St. Xavier School of Nursing, and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Illinois, College of Nursing.

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Jason Q. Purnell, PhD, MPH

President, James S. McDonnell Foundation / St. Louis, MO

Jason Q. Purnell, PhD, MPH, is vice president of community health improvement for BJC HealthCare. He is responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of BJC’s community health programs, and oversees BJC’s connections with community-based programs that offer primary, secondary and tertiary prevention for chronic conditions.

Prior to joining BJC in August 2020, he spent over a decade focused on health equity and social determinants of health as a faculty member in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, where he retains an appointment as an associate professor.

Dr. Purnell is the founding director of Health Equity Works (formerly For the Sake of All), a research-based initiative that translates data and research on the social determinants of health into engaging products to accelerate community action. He and his team and collaborators have been responsible for raising awareness and facilitating action on issues ranging from school health to affordable housing in the St. Louis region and beyond.
A native of St. Louis, Dr. Purnell graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, with a bachelor’s degree in government and philosophy. His doctoral degree in counseling psychology is from The Ohio State University, and his master’s in public health is from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 2021 Dr. Purnell was named one of the Top Diversity Leaders in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare.

He serves as a member of the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; as co-chair of the steering committee of the Regional Response Team, which he helped to establish; and represents BJC HealthCare on the St. Louis Integrated Health Network board. A native of St. Louis, he and his wife, Amanda, have two children.

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Dean Rosen, JD, MS

Partner at Mehlman Consulting / Washington, DC

Dean A. Rosen, JD, MS, is a partner at Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas.  He is one of Washington’s foremost experts on America’s complex health care system – and a master of both the politics and policies that shape it.  Dean has more than two decades of experience developing and advancing health policy initiatives on Capitol Hill and in the private sector.  At Mehlman Castagnetti, he advises a wide range of clients, from leading businesses and trade associations to universities and not-for-profit organizations.  He has represented hospitals and health systems, physician specialty organizations, private health plans, clinical laboratories, biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as national employers.  He guides each as they seek to impact national health policy and navigate the transformational health system changes taking place in the aftermath of the Affordable Care Act.

Prior to joining Mehlman Castagnetti, Dean held a series of high-level positions in both the private sector and government, including on key committees in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives.  As the chief health care advisor to then- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN), a leading voice on national medical and health issues, Dean helped draft and navigate to final passage landmark legislation creating a Medicare prescription drug benefit, patient safety legislation, and laws in the wake of the September 11th and bioterrorism attacks in 2001 to ensure that local, state and national public health systems had new authorities and additional resources to respond to future threats.  Before working for the Senate Majority Leader, Dean served as staff director for the Senate Subcommittee on Public Health, majority counsel for the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, and health policy coordinator for the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources (now the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee).  At Ways and Means, he played a leading role in crafting the Medicare provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.  At Labor, he was the lead Senate staffer in drafting the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

Dean’s policy, legal and management experience also ranges beyond Capitol Hill.  He served as senior vice president of policy and general counsel for the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), and practiced law at Dow, Lohnes and Albertson in Washington, D.C.

Dean holds a J.D. from Syracuse University Law School, a Master’s Degree from Syracuse University S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and a B.S. from Boston University.  He is a member of the Board of Directors at the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship, and an Associate Professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health.

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Mark D. Smith, MD, MBA

Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of California / San Francisco, CA

Mark D. Smith, MD, MBA, is currently a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco.  From 2015 to 2019 he served as co-chair of the Guiding Committee of the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network.  From 1996 to 2013, Dr. Smith was the Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Healthcare Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on improving the health of Californians.  In those 17 years, Smith helped build the Foundation into a recognized leader in delivery system innovation, public reporting of care quality, and applications of new technology in health care.  Before CHCF, Dr. Smith was Executive Vice-President of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, where he oversaw programs in HIV, Reproductive Health, and the Health Care Marketplace.  Prior to that, he was on the faculty at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and of Public Health and directed the AIDS clinic there.

He was elected to the Institute of Medicine (now National Academy of Medicine) in 2001 and chaired the IOM’s Committee on the Learning Healthcare System, which produced the widely publicized 2012 report Best Care at Lower Cost.  Dr. Smith serves as a Director of Teladoc Health, Inc., Phreesia, the Commonwealth Fund, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and Prealize.  He earned his BA degree in Afro-American Studies from Harvard College, his M.D. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his M.B.A. in Healthcare Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.  He maintains a clinical practice in HIV at the Positive Health Practice at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.  He and his wife live in Oakland, California.

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David Sundwall, MD

Clinical Professor of Public Health, University of Utah School of Medicine / Salt Lake City, UT

David Sundwall, MD, is a Clinical Professor of Public Health at the University of Utah - School of Medicine, where he has been a faculty member since 1978 (albeit with a very long leave of absence from 1981-2005 when he lived in Washington, DC, and had a variety of positions in the federal government and private sector).  He served as Executive Director of the Utah Department of Health and Commissioner of Health for the State of Utah, from 2005 through 2010.  He has served on numerous government and community boards and advisory groups in his home state, including Chair of the Utah State Controlled Substance Advisory Committee [CASC], and as Vice Chair of the federal Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission [MACPAC], from 2010-2014.

Dr. Sundwall was President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) from 2007-8, and has served on their Board of Directors as the alumni representative.  He has chaired or served on several committees of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and is most recently on the Standing Committee on Health Threats Resilience, and the Committee on Department of Homeland Security Occupational Health and Operational Medicine Infrastructure.

Prior to returning to Utah in 2005, he was President of the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA), and prior to that was Vice President and Medical Director of American Healthcare Systems (AmHS).  Dr. Sundwall’s federal government experience includes serving as Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Assistant Surgeon General in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, and Director of the Health and Human Resources Staff of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee.  He received his medical degree from the University of Utah - School of Medicine, and completed residency in the Harvard Family Medicine Program.  He is a licensed physician, board certified in Internal Medicine and Family Practice, and works as a primary care physician at Health Clinics of Utah two half-days each week.

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Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN

Professor and Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing / Philadelphia, PA

Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN

Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Professor and the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Internationally renowned for her leadership in policy, practice and research, Dr. Villarruel became a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 1997 and was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2007. Prior to becoming dean, Dr. Villarruel was a professor, the Nola J. Pender Collegiate Chair and the associate dean for research and global affairs at the University of Michigan School of Nursing. She also held a joint faculty appointment in the School of Public Health and was director of the school's World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Research and Clinical Training in Health Promotion Nursing. She led interdisciplinary and multi-school strategic planning processes to help the University of Michigan integrate the research, education, practice and global missions of the school, the health system and the university. Her effort to support nursing faculty in developing research programs led to a steady increase in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Among her national leadership roles, Dr. Villarruel is an elected board member of the American Academy of Nursing, a board member of the Institute of Medicine Board on Population Health, and co-chair of the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on the Elimination of Health Disparities and the Promotion of Health Equity.

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Jonathan Woodson, MD

President, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences / Bethesda, MD

Jonathan Woodson, MD, is the Larz Anderson Professor in Management and Professor of the Practice at the Boston University (BU) Questrom School of Business, Professor of Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine, and Professor of Health Law, Policy and Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. He is Director of the university-wide Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy, which focuses on expanding health system research initiatives across Boston University, deepening connections between scholars, policy-makers, and corporations to address important national and global health care challenges, and advancing curricular activities at Questrom and across BU’s schools and colleges.

From 2010-2016 Dr. Woodson served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs in the United States Department of Defense. He was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all health and force health protection-related issues and ensured the effective execution of the Department of Defense medical mission. His organization provided and maintained medical readiness for the medical services including during military operations, those held in control of the military services, and those entitled to Tricare. He exercised authority, direction and control over the Defense Health Program ($50+ billion), Defense Health Agency, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, and the Tricare Health Plan serving 9.5 million beneficiaries. During his tenure, Dr. Woodson led the Military Health System through the most significant transformation in 5 decades. For this work, he was awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal (highest award given by DoD). While ASD, Dr. Woodson co-Chaired or was a member of several Presidential Commissions and Delegations. In 2015 he was named one of the most influential medical policy leaders in Washington (Executive Mosaic) and in 2016 he was named one of the Top 25 minorities executives in health care (Modern Health). In 2017, the George Washington Milken Institute and School of Public Health and BlackDocotrs.Org named him one of the top African Americans in healthcare and Savoy Magazine named him to the list of Heroes in Medicine.

Prior to serving as Assistant Secretary of Defense, Jonathan was Associate Dean for Students, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and Professor of Surgery at BU School of Medicine. He received his BS in biomedical science (magna cum Laude) from the City College of New York, his MD from New York University School of Medicine, and a Master’s in strategic studies from the US Army War College. He is a Brigadier General in the US Army Reserves.

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