Julianne Howell, Ph.D.

Julianne R. Howell, Ph.D. is Senior Health Policy Advisor in the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), participating in the planning and implementation of numerous initiatives created under the Affordable Care Act and advising on County strategy and policy across health and human services issues. She helped implement the San Diego Care Transitions Partnership for fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries; guided development of San Diego’s Whole Person Wellness Pilot serving high-cost complex beneficiaries under “Medi-Cal 2020,” California’s Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver; and participates in Live Well San Diego, the visionary “collective impact movement” that is helping individuals and communities throughout the region Build Better Health, Live Safely, and Thrive. Since December 2020, she has been primarily engaged in the County’s planning for CalAIM, California’s innovative framework for broad-based delivery system, program, and payment reform across the Medi-Cal program.

Beyond her work with The County of San Diego, Dr. Howell is actively involved with the San Diego community as a member of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Program Committee of the Alliance Healthcare Foundation.

Dr. Howell was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow from 2002 – 2004, serving on Senator John Kerry’s staff. From 2005 - 2011, she was an Independent Technical Consultant to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, focusing on care coordination, value-based purchasing, and quality improvement. In 2011 she was also Senior Advisor in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

From 1981 to 2002, Dr. Howell led strategic and major program planning for the Health Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, first as Director of Strategic Planning and Marketing and an Associate Director for UCSD Medical Center, and then as Director of Health Sciences Planning in the Office of the Vice Chancellor – Health Sciences/ Dean, School of Medicine at UCSD.

Dr. Howell received her A.B. from Harvard College, a Masters in Urban Studies and Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Masters in Public Policy and Ph.D. from the Harvard Kennedy School.