April 28th, 2009 Stake Holders Working Meeting Speaker Bios

Richard C. Antonelli, M.D., M.S., FAAP

Associate/Interim Medical Director, Children's Hospital
Integrated Care Organization (CHICO), Children’s Hospital, Boston

Rich is the Medical Director of the Children’s Hospital Boston Integrated Care Organization, and the Associate Medical Director for Quality of the Physicians’ Organization at Children’s Hospital Boston.  Prior to his arrival at Harvard, he was Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Head of the Division of Academic General Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.  Since 1987, his clinical work in general pediatrics has focused on providing comprehensive, family-centered care for all children, youth, and young adults, but especially for those with special health care needs.  He is a member of the Project Advisory Committee of the National Center for Medical Home Initiatives at the American Academy of Pediatrics.  He has published data about the outcome efficacy and cost of care coordination services for children and youth with special health care needs and their families in primary care settings.  He has extended this work by measuring what families and non-physician care coordinators do to support care coordination.  Rich has also published work defining mechanisms for integration and coordination of care across systems including the development of strategies and interventions to improve collaborative efforts between families, primary care providers, and subspecialists.  His work has been shared with stakeholders at the National Quality Forum and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).  He is currently working with NCQA to develop an assessment tool to measure quality of care in primary care settings.  In conjunction with researchers and policy representatives from internal medicine and family medicine, he represents the Academic Pediatrics Association in the current national initiative Establishing a Policy Relevant Research Agenda for the Patient-Centered Medical Home:  A Multi-Disciplinary Approach.  This work will inform health care system re-design strategies for all Americans.  Most recently, he was the Principal Investigator of “Developing Care Coordination as a Critical Component of a High Performance Pediatric Health Care System”, supported by The Commonwealth Fund.

Craig Brammer

Senior Research Associate
Department of Public Health Sciences
University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center

Craig Brammer is Senior Research Associate with the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center. He currently serves as Director of Cincinnati’s Aligning Forces for Quality: The Regional Market Project. This regional initiative is one of fourteen in the United States supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to align incentives, engage consumers and measure performance for improving healthcare quality at the regional level.

Mr. Brammer recently served as Principal Investigator for a series of studies to assist the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services in the design of Ohio Medicaid’s pay-for-performance (P4P) strategy. This work included evaluating metrics for appropriateness in Medicaid, surveying health plans on their P4P approach, and conducting focus groups with physicians and other stakeholders on P4P design characteristics. He previously authored studies for the Institute of Medicine, National Rural Health Association and others on healthcare performance measurement and practice redesign. His research interests include health policy, performance measurement and quality improvement.

In addition, Mr. Brammer is Co-Director of the Humana/University of Cincinnati Physician Leadership Program; Co-Principal Investigator for multiple grants and projects on medical education in healthcare improvement at the University of Cincinnati; and leads the Department’s Health Policy Forum seminar series.

Ted Epperly, M.D.

Program Director and C.E.O.
The Family Medicine Residency of Idaho

Ted Epperly, M.D. is the Program Director and C.E.O. of the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho, Boise, Idaho.  He is a Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine where he also graduated from medical school.  Dr. Epperly retired as a Colonel from the U.S. Army after a 21-year career.  He is the past Chairman of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Commission on Education, a former RAP Consultant, and a former member of the Residency Review Committee for Family Medicine (RRC-FM). 

Dr. Epperly has completed a Fellowship in faculty development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and also holds a CAQ in Geriatrics.  He has published over 40 articles and book chapters and has given over 125 national and international lectures.  Dr. Epperly is a staunch supporter of Family Medicine Education and Research, Advocacy, Practice Enhancement and Health of the Public.  Dr. Epperly is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians Board of Directors and currently serves as the President of the AAFP.  Dr Epperly is passionate about the specialty of Family Medicine and improving America’s health care system.

Mark Fendrick, MD

Division of General Medicine
University of Michigan Medical Center

A. Mark Fendrick, M.D. is a Professor of Internal Medicine in the School of Medicine and a Professor of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. Dr. Fendrick received a bachelor’s degree in economics and chemistry from University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fendrick completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program. He currently co-directs the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan [www.vbidcenter.org].

Dr. Fendrick's research focuses on the clinical and economic assessment of medical interventions with special attention to how technological innovation influences clinical practice, benefit design, and health care systems. He has authored over 200 articles and book chapters and lectures frequently on the quality and cost implications of medical care to diverse audiences around the world. Dr. Fendrick remains clinically active in the practice of general internal medicine.  He is the Co-editor in chief of the American Journal of Managed Care and is an editorial board member for 3 additional peer-reviewed publications. His perspective and understanding of clinical and economic issues have fostered collaborations with numerous government agencies, health plans, professional societies, and health care companies. He serves on the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee.

Eileen Forlenza

Director, Colorado Medical Home Initiative

Eileen Forlenza serves as the Director of the Colorado Medical Home Initiative for the Department of Public Health and Environment . 

Ms. Forlenza serves on several state and national advisory councils including Multi-Stakeholder Patient Centered Medical Home Pilot Project (Colorado), National Summit on Patient and Family-Centered Care, National Initiative for Child Health Quality (NICHQ) and The Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP).

Eileen’s leadership skills coupled with her effective and unique presentation style has inspired and motivated audiences across the country to think differently and courageously regarding patient-centered care.  She gently engages the audience into her experience of parenting a child with chronic health care needs into policy development and leadership.  

Eileen spent many years in marketing in the cable television industry, specifically marketing programming for The Nashville Network, Country Music Television (CMT) and QVC.  Her extensive experience also includes social entrepreneurship developing and implementing initiatives that serve at-risk populations such as children with disabilities, siblings in foster-care, domestic abuse victims, incarcerated women, as well as training a national school-based network of youth leaders.  Eileen’s social marketing efforts have generated awareness in national forums such as People magazine, Family Support magazine and Oprah! 

Eileen and her husband Scott enjoy the fun of their four children, including Holly their gregarious teen-aged daughter with developmental disabilities.

Jon Glaudemans

Senior Vice President
Avalere Health

Jon Glaudemans is Senior Vice President at Avalere Health, where he consults on a wide array of Medicare, Medicaid, and sector-specific issues for Avalere Health, a leading strategic advisory firm with over 125 professionals specializing in the intersection of health policy and business strategy.
 
Prior to joining Avalere in 2004, Jon led the Washington, DC, office of the Austin, Texas-based firm, Public Strategies, a leading public affairs firm specializing in developing and executing board- and senior-management strategies to manage public policy threats and opportunities.  Before joining PublicStrategies, Jon served as the Transition Coordinator to the then-incoming Administrator of the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration/CMS, where he led the development and initial roll out of the President’s proposed Prescription Drug Discount Card Program.

Earlier in his career, Jon spent 10 years at Aetna, where his leadership in progressively responsible positions included General Manager of Aetna U.S. Healthcare’s Capital Region and Vice President for Strategic Planning and Business Development.  Jon began his career at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he spent nine years working on such seminal health policy issues as the introduction of hospital prospective payment, the adoption of RB-RVS and physician spending targets, and the first effort to extend prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries.

Jon holds a B.A. in Political Science from M.I.T. and a M.P.A. in Economics from Princeton University.

Don Liss, M.D.

Aetna Mid-Atlantic Regional Medical Director

Don Liss, MD oversees a staff of nurses, physicians, and clinical support personnel responsible for promoting the delivery of health care to over two million members of Aetna health plans in PA, DE, MD, VA, WV, Southern NJ, and the District of Columbia.

Prior to joining Aetna, Don served as Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs at Health Partners, a Philadelphia area Medicaid plan, where he was responsible for quality improvement, utilization management, pharmacy and provider network contracting.

Dr. Liss is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and has held faculty appointments at Temple University School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Drexel University College of Medicine. Dr. Liss currently serves as a member of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and as a Director of the HealthWell Foundation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Philip Magistro

Phil Magistro’s career in health care spans 29 years.  He serves as the Deputy Director for Program Implementation in the Governor’s Office of Health Care Reform.  His duties include managing several initiatives including the implementation of the Commonwealth’s Chronic Care Initiative, the most comprehensive collaboration of providers and payers in the nation, which will transform primary care delivery and reimbursement to proactively manage patients with chronic illnesses. He is also responsible for managing the creation of a state-wide health information exchange and other health initiatives found in the Governor’s health care reform package - Prescription for Pennsylvania. 

Prior to joining the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Mr. Magistro served as an operating manager, vendor executive and health care information technology consultant.   As an HIT consultant Mr. Magistro has managed various projects with provider, payor, and state organizations including clinical systems selection and implementation, HIPAA Transaction and Code Set and Security compliance, physician-based electronic medical records, and process re-engineering from corporate restructuring to departmental productivity enhancements.  He has also worked with software vendors to review product functionality, provide competitive analysis and offer market assessments. 

Mr. Magistro is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. in Economics.  He participates in local, regional and national health care professional groups.  He is a member of several health care organizations, including the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the Pennsylvania e-Health Initiative (PAeHI)

Joseph F. Mambu, MD CMD CHE

Upon earning a BS in Biology from Villanova University in 1969 and later his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Dr Mambu  completed a 3-year residency in family practice in 1976 at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. He earned his CAQ in Geriatrics in 1990 and became a certified medical director from the American Medical Directors Association in 1995.

After 25 years in a single-specialty group practice in Abington, Pennsylvania and with a subspecialty in geriatrics, he started Family Medicine, Geriatrics and Wellness (FMGW) in 2001 designing it to be a patient-centered, team-oriented comprehensive primary care medical practice. From the outset, information technology and the internet played a key role in improving the efficiency and communications within the practice and with his patients. The busy office practice extended its coverage to include two hospitals, multiple nursing homes, assisted living units and home visits.

In 2002 he completed his certificate in Businesses Administration from Penn’s Wharton school and became a Diplomate of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

In 2006, FMGW was one of 36 practices chosen nationally by the American Academy of Family Medicine to participate in their proof-of-concept demonstration project, TransforMed, which eventually evolved into the current medical home model.

Presently, his 2.5 physician, 1.25 nurse practitioner medical practice with open access scheduling, advanced electronic medical record system and disease management software is participating in Governor Rendell’s southeastern Pennsylvania’s multi-stakeholder pilot linking payment reform with chronic disease management.

In May, 2008, FMGW was awarded the Small Practice Innovation Award by Quality Insights of Pennsylvania and in November the practice was recognized by the National Committee on Quality Assurance as a Level 3 medical home, the eighth practice in the country to do so.

Early in 2009 Dr. Mambu began a 2-year online fellowship program in integrative medicine with Dr. Andrew Weil and his faculty in the Integrative Medicine Department at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Guy Mansueto

VP of Marketing, Phytel

Guy Mansueto is the Vice President of Marketing for Phytel.  Guy brings to Phytel over 17 years of healthcare marketing experience including being responsible for regional marketing teams, supporting sales growth, creating integrated product plans, and establishing business identity across multiple acquisitions.  Guy leads Phytel’s go-to-market strategy as the premier company empowering physician-led health improvement – providing physicians with proven technology to deliver timely, coordinated care to their patients. Prior to joining Phytel, Guy was with Allscripts for 8 years, and was the Vice President of Marketing, responsible for marketing efforts across three product lines for both ambulatory EMR and acute care EDIS and Care Management solutions.

Previously, Guy was the Director of Implementation or Quadramed, responsible for the medical records encoding and abstracting products. He also served in product management and technical support roles for several applications at Quadramed, including clinical documentation, nurse staffing and scheduling, and quality monitoring systems.

Guy holds a Masters of Management degree from North Park University Business School in Chicago and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the Loyola University in Chicago.
 

Suzanne Mitchell, M.D. M.Sc.

Faculty, Boston University School of Medicine

Suzanne E. Mitchell M.D. is a board certified family physician, medical educator and consultant in cross-cultural medical care and communication.  Dr. Mitchell practices geriatric primary care in long term care facilities in addition to her teaching and research activities. Dr. Mitchell received her doctorate degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and completed post-graduate training in Family Medicine at White Memorial Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program.  Dr. Mitchell also received a Masters of Science in Clinical Research from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research interests are in health disparities in childhood obesity and healthcare access. Dr. Mitchell resides in Massachusetts where she also holds faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine.
  

Lynn V. Mitchell, MD, MPH

State Medicaid Director
Oklahoma Health Care Authority

Dr. Mitchell earned a master’s in public health with an emphasis in epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center where she also completed her medical degree.  Following medical school, she completed a dual residency in Family Medicine and Occupational/Preventive Medicine and is boarded by both specialties.  Prior to becoming the OHCA Medical Director, she was a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.  In 2000, Dr. Mitchell became State Medicaid Director and has responsibility for SoonerCare Operations of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.   In this capacity, she oversees the day to day operations for member/provider services across all programs and benefit structures.  Dr. Mitchell has been involved on a national level with Medicaid policies.  She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Medicaid Directors (NASMD) and chairs the Pharmacy Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on behalf of NASMD and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

David Nace, MD

McKesson Corporation

Dr. David Nace is currently a Vice President and Chief Medical Officer with the McKesson Corporation, one of the world’s largest healthcare services and information technology companies, where he is directly responsible for clinical development of McKesson’s Relay Health and Health Solutions products and services. Before joining McKesson, Dr. Nace served as a Senior Vice President and National Chief Medical Officer with Aetna, and subsequently with United Health Group.

Dr. Nace earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and undergraduate degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science.  Since the early 1990’s he has played a leadership role in organized healthcare for both the hospital / provider and payer markets. He has served as a advisor for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, the United Nations Business Council, and the World Health Organization addressing issues such health promotion and wellness from a benefit design and healthcare financing perspective.

Dr. Nace is the author of a number of original papers and articles, and is a nationally recognized speaker on health related technologies, workplace oriented programs, disease management, and the patient centered medical home.

Gordon K. Norman, M.D., M.B.A.

Executive Vice President, Science & Innovation
Alere

Craig Brammer is Senior Research Associate with the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center. He currently serves as Director of Cincinnati’s Aligning Forces for Quality: The Regional Market Project. This regional initiative is one of fourteen in the United States supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to align incentives, engage consumers and measure performance for improving healthcare quality at the regional level.

Mr. Brammer recently served as Principal Investigator for a series of studies to assist the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services in the design of Ohio

Medicaid’s pay-for-performance (P4P) strategy. This work included evaluating metrics for appropriateness in Medicaid, surveying health plans on their P4P approach, and conducting focus groups with physicians and other stakeholders on P4P design characteristics. He previously authored studies for the Institute of Medicine, National Rural Health Association and others on healthcare performance measurement and practice redesign. His research interests include health policy, performance measurement and quality improvement.

In addition, Mr. Brammer is Co-Director of the Humana/University of Cincinnati Physician Leadership Program; Co-Principal Investigator for multiple grants and projects on medical education in healthcare improvement at the University of Cincinnati; and leads the Department’s Health Policy Forum seminar series.

Craig Osterhues

Health Care Manager
GE - Aviation

As the Health Care Manager for GE Aviation – Craig is responsible for the Value, Compliance and Satisfaction of the health care delivered to the 23,000 domestic employees.

Craig also serves on the Board of Directors for the Employer Health Care Alliance and HealthBridge – and as actively involved in the Cincinnati Aligning Forces for Quality, Bridges to Excellence and the Hospital Quality Improvement Project.

Prior to joining GE in 2005, Craig worked at Dow Chemical (Midland, MI), Towers Perrin (Charlotte, NC) and The Kroger Co. (Cincinnati, OH) – in roles ranging from Health Promotion and health care analyst to Benefits Manager and Union Negotiator.

After receiving a bachelor of science degree in finance from Miami University (Ohio), Craig completed his master's in Education at the University of Cincinnati and his master's in Health Services Administration from the University of Michigan.

Eva Powell

DIRECTOR, HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECT

Eva Powell is leading an effort to educate and empower consumer advocates to be more actively engaged in health information exchange policy development and implementation.  Her work with advocates on both the national and state levels includes technical assistance and education, advocacy, and coalition leadership.  The primary goal of the project is to promote health information exchange as a means of both improving quality and enabling consumers to play a more active role in their health care, while ensuring that consumer interests are at the forefront of planning and implementation efforts.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Ms. Powell worked for the federally designated Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for the states of North and South Carolina. During her six years at the QIO, she was responsible for project management of federal hospital quality improvement initiatives and guided hospitals across North Carolina during the transition to public reporting of quality data.  She also had management responsibilities for hospital and physician practice initiatives, including the CMS sponsored Doctors Office Quality Information Technology Program (DOQ-IT).  In her management role, she also negotiated a partnership with the North Carolina Hospital Association that facilitated the web-based publication of more timely and meaningful hospital quality data for consumers across North Carolina.
 
Ms. Powell began her career as a clinical social worker at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, NC, where her work focused primarily on care coordination.  She graduated with honors from Wake Forest University in 1990, earning a BA in Psychology.  She also earned a Masters of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992, with a concentration in Families & Children.

Bruce Sherman, MD, FCCP

Consulting Medical Director, Global Services
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Bruce Sherman, MD, FCCP, is the consulting Medical Director, Global Services for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. In this role, he is responsible for developing integrated, value-based health management strategies for the organization's 75,000 associates and family members worldwide. He is also the Director, Health and Productivity Initiatives with the Employers Health Coalition of Ohio. Dr. Sherman has particular interests in the areas of evidence-based medical care and evaluation of quality and efficiency in healthcare delivery. As well, he has experience in the development of business case scenarios to demonstrate the value of health management solutions, as well as formulating organizational metrics to effectively manage these initiatives.

Dr. Sherman is a member of the Boards of Directors for the Integrated Benefits Institute and the Pharmacy Quality Alliance.  An active contributor for the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dr. Sherman is a member of the Health and Productivity and Corporate Medical Directors Sections. A speaker at both local and national levels, he has presented workforce health and productivity management strategies to diverse audiences, and has published numerous related articles.

Dr. Sherman received his MD from New York University School of Medicine, his MA from Harvard University and his bachelor's degree from Brown University. He is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Sherman continues as a member of the clinical faculty in the Department of Medicine at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Christine Sinsky, M.D.

Medical Associates Clinic, Dubuque, Iowa

Dr. Christine Sinsky practices general internal medicine at Medical Associates Clinic and Health Plans, a 114 physician multi-specialty practice in Dubuque, Iowa, where she is the physician champion for the clinic’s medical home initiatives. Medical Associates is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). She is also a member of the NCQA patient centered medical home physicians’ advisory panel and the Society of General Internal Medicine PCMH working group. Dr. Sinsky has served as a consultant to academic medical centers and medical practices, and along with her husband, Dr. Thomas Sinsky, also a primary care internist, has given workshops on practice redesign in the United States and Canada. Dr. Sinsky is also on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Sinsky received her B.S. and M.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin,  and completed her postgraduate residency at Gundersen Medical Foundation/La Crosse Lutheran Hospital, in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, from 1982 – 1986 serving as Chief Medical resident in 1986.
 

Jason Spangler, MD, MPH

Managing Senior Fellow, Senior Program Officer
Partnership for Prevention

Dr. Spangler is a managing senior fellow and senior program officer at Partnership for Prevention, a national, non-profit health policy research organization. He is the lead for Partnership’s health system activities, which comprise both healthcare and public health. His portfolio also includes the Health Professionals Roundtable, promotion of clinical preventive services, and prevention policy.  Prior to working at Partnership for Prevention, he was employed as a public health and health policy consultant with the Public Health and Policy group at Pfizer Inc.  While at Pfizer, his work focused on health literacy, public health policy, and partnership management. 

Dr. Spangler graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.  He received his medical degree at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.  Following this residency, Dr. Spangler moved on to Johns Hopkins where he completed a general preventive medicine residency and did an additional year serving as chief resident of the program.  He is board certified in general preventive medicine/public health and lives with his wife and two daughters in Arlington, Virginia.

Linda Strand, MD

Dr. Strand is a pharmacist, an educator and a researcher.  She received her Bachelor of Science Degree, Doctor of Pharmacy Degree, and Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Pharmacy Administration from the University of Minnesota.  In 2001, Dr. Strand was presented an honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland.
 
Dr. Strand held faculty positions in the colleges of pharmacy at the University of Utah and the University of Florida before returning to the University of Minnesota.  Throughout her career she practiced in community, hospital, and clinical pharmacy settings.  Dr. Strand has taught the practice of pharmaceutical care at the professional student level as well as the graduate level. 

Dr. Strand began working with the ideas that eventually became the practice of pharmaceutical care in 1978.  She began working with Dr. Cipolle at that time and in 1983 Dr. Morley joined the research team.  In 1990 her work was integrated with the work of Dr. Charles D. Hepler in the landmark paper entitled “Opportunities and Responsibilities in Pharmaceutical Care.”  Since then she has worked to further develop and teach the practice of pharmaceutical care.

Dr. Strand received the Remington Medal in 1997 from the American Pharmacists Association.  This medal is the highest recognition given to an individual working in the profession of pharmacy. 

Dr. Strand’s work is internationally recognized. She has lectured throughout the world and has conducted pharmaceutical care training programs for practitioners from over 12 nations.  Dr. Strand consults regularly with colleges of pharmacy and government agencies around the world. 

Dr. Strand presently holds the position of Distinguished Professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Her most recent research involves the development of therapeutic treatment plans for practitioners and personalized treatment plans for patients which are built on the concept of the medication experience. 

Dr. Strand’s most recent practice endeavors focus on the founding of a private company, Medication Management Systems, Inc.  The goal of this company is to make the software documentation program, practice instruments, decision support tools, management and marketing support for pharmaceutical care practice, available to all practitioners engaged in drug therapy decisions.

Cynthia Reeves Tuttle, PhD, MPH

Vice President, Center for Prevention & Health Services

Cynthia Reeves Tuttle, PhD, MPH, is the Vice President of the Center for Prevention and Health Services. The Center focuses on information and resources for preventive and other health services that are delivered through employer-sponsored health plans and work site programs. Specifically, the Center provides information for employers about current health recommendations from federal agencies and professional associations, best practices among employers, current health services research results, and opportunities to participate in teleconferences and in-person solutions workshops. The program areas include a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a Behavioral Health Integrated Service Toolkit, Maternal and Child Health, Preventive Services, and Health Disparities.

Prior to assuming her current position with NBGH, Dr. Tuttle served as the Director of Nutrition and Family Sciences for the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension (CSREES) Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and was the primary liaison for state nutrition and family science programs with the Deans and Cooperative Extension Directors at all of the Land Grant Universities across the country and in six U.S. Territories. She also managed the $68 million dollar Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) targeted to low-income populations throughout the United States. Previously, Dr. Tuttle served as the Director of Bread for the World Institute, a non-profit advocacy organization with a focus on hunger and social justice issues in the United States and around the world. She also has more than 10 years of experience working in higher education on faculty at the University of Otago in New Zealand and at the University of Maryland. Dr. Tuttle has worked with a variety of immigrant and indigenous populations in Maryland, California, Hawaii, Alaska and New Zealand.

Dr. Tuttle has spent her career working on issues of nutrition, food security and the broader areas of public health, particularly among vulnerable populations in the U.S. and globally. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Nutrition from the University of Nevada, Reno; her Master of Public Health from the University of Hawaii; and her Doctorate in Community and International Nutrition from the University of California, Davis.
 

Lisa Dulsky Watkins, MD

Assistant Director, Vermont Blueprint for Health
Public Health Physician, Vermont Department of Health

Dr. Dulsky Watkins was in general pediatric practice in Vermont from 1988 to 1997, when she began a career in the public health and health information fields of medicine, first at the Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care, Inc., at Problem Knowledge Couplers Corporation, and now at the Vermont Department of Health.  She is the VDH operations chief for the Vermont Blueprint for Health, a comprehensive and statewide process of transformation designed to reduce the health and economic impact of the most common chronic diseases and focus on their prevention.

She is a liaison with Vermont’s physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants as the Blueprint Chronic Care model is implemented throughout the state.  She is also responsible for coordinating the ongoing discussion and investigation into payment reform of the treatment of chronic disease in an effort to sustain the goals and achievements of the Blueprint.