Rhonda Ozanian, Ph.D.

Rhonda Ozanian, Ph.D., is Senior Policy Analyst to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, supporting health policy and health care operations in the Military Health System. For the past two years she has administered the Senior Executive Leadership Council that shapes policy on health care delivery, and most recently she served as a senior health adviser on the DoD Independent Review Panel Related to Fort Hood.

Currently a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, Dr. Ozanian has worked in the areas of improving health care quality and outcomes, including better use of technology. In 2007 she served on the President’s Commission for Care of America’s Returning Wounded Warriors. She was a recipient of the Vice-Presidential Partnership Award for Reinventing Government. Her military service includes the provision of mental health services in Afghanistan.

In 2003, Dr. Ozanian directed the Family Medicine Clinic and Residency Program of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and implemented one of the first patient-centered Medical Homes. She co-wrote and managed a U.S. Health Resources and Service Administration Rural Health Training Grant, and advanced faculty and resident scholarship through rigorous scientific review and collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve orthopedic and obstetric outcomes and bolster influenza surveillance.

Dr. Ozanian received her Ph.D. in social policy from Columbia University. She received a Master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. A licensed clinical social worker and board-certified diplomate, Dr. Ozanian has served as teaching faculty at Columbia University and is adjunct faculty at the Uniformed Services University for Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland. (Updated 09.01. 10)