RWJ Health Policy Fellows: About Us

Joseph Antos, PhD, is the Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. He also is a Commissioner of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission. Prior to joining AEI, Antos was Assistant Director for Health and Human Resources at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and he held senior positions in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Management and Budget, and the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. He also has extensive experience as an adviser to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and governments in Europe and Asia.

Antos has written, lectured, and testified before Congress on the economics of health policy, including Medicare and broader health system reform, health care financing, health insurance regulation, and the uninsured. His articles have appeared in the American Economic Review, Health Affairs, New England Journal of Medicine, National Tax Journal, and other scholarly publications, and his commentaries have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and other major newspapers. Antos is the editor with Alice Rivlin of Restoring Fiscal Sanity 2007: The Health Spending Challenge (Brookings Institution Press, 2007). He is past chairman of the Coalition for Health Services Research, a member of CBO’s panel of health advisers, and he serves on a variety of professional boards.

Antos earned his masters and Ph.D. in economics at the University of Rochester, and his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Cornell University.

Kenneth B. Chance, Sr., DDS, FACD, FICD is Professor and Division Chief of Endodontics at the University of Kentucky, College of Dentistry. He received a BS degree from Fordham University in 1975 and a DDS degree from Case Western Reserve University, School of Dental Medicine in 1979. He received postgraduate training at the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, General Practice Residency Program in NYC, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Dental School (UMDNJ-NJDS) in Endodontics in 1982. At UMDNJ-NJDS, Dr. Chance served as head of the Department of Endodontics, assistant dean of External Affairs, and University Federal Relations Advisor. He was director for the Health Policy Program at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, DC. Dr. Chance served as dean and professor at the Meharry Medical College, School of Dentistry in Nashville, Tennessee. He was elected Member-At Large of the Administrative Board of the Council of Deans of the American Dental Education Association. He has served on major committees including: the Institute of Medicine Committee on National Institutes of Health Research Priority Setting Process, and Chairman of the Governor’s Oral Health Policy 2000 Advisory Committee for New Jersey. In 1991, Dr. Chance was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in the Office of Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). He was also a PEW National Dental Leadership Development Fellow in 1991. Dr. Chance has received more than fifty awards, citations and special recognitions including; the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Excellence Award in Education, Governor of Tennessee Outstanding Achievement Award, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Community Service Award. He has fellowships in the American and International College of Dentists, Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honor Society, Academy of Political Science, Pierre Fauchard Academy, and was elected Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academy of Practice in Dentistry. Dr. Chance presently serves on the Case Western Reserve University Board of Trustees, as Vice Chairman of the Academic Affairs and Student Life Committee, and is a member of the Audit and University Relations Committees. He has numerous publications and abstracts in peer-reviewed journals and has made more than sixty invited presentations, both nationally and internationally.

Linda Degutis, DrPH, is Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Public Health, and Associate Clinical Professor of Nursing at Yale University. She is the Research Director for the Section of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Degutis, who is a native of Chicago, Illinois, received a Bachelor of Science degree from DePaul University, a Master of Science in Nursing and a Doctor of Public Health from Yale University. She was a 1996-97 Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow, working in the office of Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN). Dr. Degutis’ research interests have centered on issues related to alcohol and injury, with a particular focus on interventions and policy issues, and she is the author of numerous publications. Her current research activities focus on both clinical and policy interventions related to injury and substance abuse. She has received research funding from several federal agencies including CDC and NHTSA, as well as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She serves as a grant reviewer for CDC, HRSA, and the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In addition, she serves on the Yale School of Medicine CME Committee, and is a member of the affiliate faculty for the Yale Clinical Scholars Program. She has served as a mentor to a group of faculty fellows for Project MAINSTREAM, a project that focuses on developing and implementing educational strategies in the area of substance abuse for faculty from multiple disciplines. At the Yale School of Public Health, she is working with other faculty on educational strategies in the area of disaster preparedness, as well as injury and violence prevention and interventions. Recently, the school was awarded a grant to develop an academic Center for Public Health Preparedness, which Dr. Degutis will direct. Dr. Degutis is the Chair of the Executive Board of the American Public Health Association and is an active member of the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section of APHA, as well as a member of the Connecticut affiliate. She was a member of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Acute Care Research Agenda Steering Committee, and currently serves on the CDC Agency-Wide Research Agenda Development Core Team, as co-chair of the Community Preparedness workgroup. Her other activities include membership on the Healthy People 2010 Task Force of SAEM. She is on the Advisory Board of America’s HealthTogether, a public policy educational group. On a local level, she is actively involved with the CT Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking, and the Connecticut Governor’s Prevention Partnership.

Susan Dentzer is the Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs, the nation’s leading journal of health policy, and an on-air analyst on health issues with The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Ms. Dentzer assumed the job of Editor-in-Chief on May 1, 2008, after a decade as the on-air health correspondent for The NewsHour. Health Affairs, which has been called the nation’s health policy “Bible,” is a peer-reviewed journal published by Project HOPE that appears bimonthly in print with additional online entries published weekly at www.healthaffairs.org. Prior to joining The NewsHour in 1998, Ms. Dentzer was chief economics correspondent and economics columnist for U.S. News & World Report, where she served from 1987 to 1997. Before joining U.S. News, Ms. Dentzer was at Newsweek, where she was a senior writer covering business news until 1987. Ms. Dentzer's work in television has included appearances as a regular analyst or commentator on CNN and The McLaughlin Group.

Senator David Durenberger served as the senior U.S. Senator from Minnesota from 1978 to 1995. During his time in the Senate, Senator Durenberger served as chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence; chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee and was catapulted into the leadership role in national health reform.

In addition, Senator Durenberger chaired the Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee, led President Reagan's New Federalism effort in 1982, and was a 14-year member of the Advisory Committee on Intergovernmental Relations. He was also a member of the Senate Environment Committee; Government Affairs Committee; and the committee now known as the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and served as Vice Chair of the Pepper Commission in 1989-1990.

Senator Durenberger is currently a Senior Health Policy Fellow at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis Minnesota and chairs the National Institute of Health Policy (NIHP).

He has also served on various national health commissions and boards including the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. He currently serves on the Board of the National Commission on Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Durenberger is a nationally sought after public speaker, and writes a popular bi-weekly national commentary on current events.

Senator Durenberger was also named by Governor Tim Pawlenty to lead the Minnesota Citizens Forum on Health Care Costs, an inside-out approach to healthcare reform in Minnesota. He is author of Prescription for Change and Neither Madman Nor Messiahs and teaches and speaks nationally on the future of healthcare delivery and policy.

He graduated from St. John’s Prep School in 1951 and St. John’s University in 1955. While attending St. John’s, Senator Durenberger was involved in Army ROTC, becoming the program’s first cadet battalion commander and the top honor cadet. Senator Durenberger went on the serve in the United States Army as a Military Intelligence Officer from 1956-1963. During this time, Senator Durenberger also graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1959.

James R. Gavin III, MD, PhD is clinical professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Healing Our Village, Inc. Prior to this, he served as president and chief executive officer of MicroIslet, Inc., San Diego, California, from January 2006 to July, 2007, and was president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta from 2002-2005. He served as senior scientific officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) from 1991 to 2002 and as director of the HHMI–National Institutes of Health Research Scholars Program from 2000 to 2002. Before joining the senior staff of HHMI, Dr. Gavin was a professor and chief of the Diabetes Section, acting chief of the Section on Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Hypertension, and William K. Warren Professor for Diabetes Studies at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He previously served as an associate professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Gavin served as a lieutenant commander in the US Public Health Service from 1971 to 1973 and continues to serve as a reserve officer.

Dr. Gavin belongs to a number of organizations, including the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), the Endocrine Society, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the American Association of Physicians, the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, the Sigma Pi Phi Leadership Fraternity, the 100 Black Men of Atlanta, and the Atlanta Rotary Club. He is a past president of the ADA and was voted Clinician of the Year in Diabetes by the ADA in 1991. He has served on many advisory boards and on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Physiology and the American Journal of Medical Sciences. He is on the board of trustees for Emory University, Livingstone College, and is Trustee Emeritus for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In addition, he is national program director of the Harold Amos Faculty Development Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Gavin is Chairman Emeritus of the National Diabetes Education Program and a past member of the Board of Scientific Councilors for the Intramural Research Program of NIDDK at the NIH. He also serves as chairman of the Data Safety Monitoring Board for the VA Cooperative Diabetes Study (VADT).

Dr. Gavin has published more than 200 articles and abstracts in such publications as Science, Journal of Applied Physiology, Diabetes, and the American Journal of Physiology. He is coauthor of two books: Healing Our Village: A Self-Care Guide for Diabetes Control(written with L. Coleman) and Dr. Gavin’s Health Guide for African Americans(written with S. Landrum). He hosted the “Powerpoint” health talk-radio show for public radio station WCLK, 91.9 FM, Atlanta from 2005-2006. Among the many honors Dr. Gavin has received are the Daniel Hale Williams Award, the E.E. Just Award, the Herbert Nickens Award, the Daniel Savage Memorial Award, the Emory University Medal for Distinguished Achievement, the Banting Medal for Distinguished Service from the ADA, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Duke University School of Medicine, the F.C. Greenwood Award from the RCMI of NCRR at NIH and the Internist of the Year Award from the National Medical Association.

Dr. Gavin graduated from Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, with a degree in chemistry. He earned his PhD in biochemistry from Emory University and his MD degree from Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina. He and his wife, Dr. Annie Gavin, are the parents of three adult sons.

Katie B. Horton, RN, MPH, JD, is a research professor at the Center for Health Policy Research at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Before joining the GWU, she was the president of HealthPolicy R&D, a health policy firm in Washington, D.C., affiliated with the law firm of Powell Goldstein. HealthPolicy R&D offers its clients a wide range of services, including research, design and analysis of health policy proposals. Ms. Horton combines professional and technical expertise, clinical experience and creative innovation to develop sound and strategic health policy positions and effective business planning for clients. Before establishing HealthPolicy R&D, Ms. Horton served as senior professional health staff specializing in Medicare financing issues for the United States Senate Committee on Finance. She was an advisor to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) and other Democratic Senators and their staffs on federal health insurance issues and drafted a variety of legislative proposals involving improvements to Medicare and patient protections in the private health insurance market. Ms. Horton has broad experience working with Congressional advisory organizations such as the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office and has also worked extensively with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Prior to her work with the Senate Committee on Finance, Ms. Horton served as the Legislative Director for Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) where she was responsible for the Member's legislative agenda regarding Medicare, Medicaid, welfare and social security issues. Ms. Horton also served as Director of Clinical Services for Operation Smile, a humanitarian organization providing health services to indigent children in developing countries.

Arthur Kellermann, MD, MPH, FACEP, is the RAND Corporation’s Paul O’Neill Alcoa Chair in Policy Analysis. Before joining RAND, Dr. Kellermann was Professor of Emergency Medicine and Associate Dean for Health Policy at the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta. He founded Emory’s academic department of emergency medicine and served as its first chair. He also established the Emory Center for Injury Control, a World Health Organization collaborating center for injury and violence prevention. For 17 years, he practiced and taught clinical emergency medicine in the Emergency Care Center of Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta’s only public hospital and Level I trauma center.

Dr. Kellermann’s research focuses on public health preparedness, injury prevention, and emergency health services. He holds career achievement awards from two disciplines: the John G Wigenstein and Hal Jayne Academic Excellence Awards from the American College of Emergency Physicians and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, respectively, and the Excellence in Science Award from the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section of the American Public Health Association. In 2001, he received Emory University’s Scholar/Teacher Award, and in 2005, he was presented with Emory’s Charles Hatcher Award for Excellence in Public Health.

In 1999, Dr. Kellermann was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies. Between 2001 and January 2004, he served as Co-Chair of the IOM Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance. From 2004 to 2006, he served on the IOM Board of Health Care Services and the IOM Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. Health System.

During his RWJ Health Policy Fellowship, (2006-2007) Dr. Kellermann worked as a member of the professional staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Chaired by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA).

Peter Neumann, ScD, is Director of the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health at the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies at Tufts Medical Center, and Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Prior to joining Tufts Medical Center, he was on the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health for ten years, most recently as Associate Professor of Policy and Decision Sciences. His research focuses on the role of cost-effectiveness analysis and risk-benefit tradeoffs in healthcare decision making. He has conducted numerous economic evaluations of medical technologies, including evaluations of treatments for Alzheimer's disease. He also directs a project to develop a comprehensive registry of cost-effectiveness analyses in health care. Dr. Neumann has contributed to the literature on the use of willingness to pay and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in valuing health benefits. His other research has focused on the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of health economic information, and the role of clinical and economic evidence in informing public and private sector healthcare decisions, including those made by the Medicare program. He is the author or co-author of over 100 papers in the medical literature, and the author of Using Cost-Effectiveness Analysis to Improve Health Care (Oxford University Press, 2005). He is a contributing editor to Health Affairs and member of the editorial board of Value in Health. Dr. Neumann has served as President of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), and as a trustee of the Society for Medical Decision Making. He has also held various policy positions in Washington, including Special Assistant to the Administrator at the Health Care Financing Administration. He received his doctorate in health policy and management from Harvard University.

Charles L. Rice, MD, is President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). Before assuming his role at USUHS, Dr. Rice, a Navy-trained surgeon and researcher, served as the vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Illinois, Chicago, from 1999-2004. Prior to that, he was vice dean of the UIC College of Medicine, as well as a professor of surgery and professor of physiology and biophysics.

Originally from Atlanta, Ga., Dr. Rice graduated with an A.B. from the University of Georgia in 1964 and earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 1968. He interned at Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C. He completed his general surgery residency at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., followed by a research fellowship at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda.

Dr. Rice’s research interests, many funded by the National Institutes of Health, have been in the biology of lung injury and in mechanisms of cell and tissue injury in shock. His clinical focus has been in trauma and critical care. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Surgical Association and the Society of University Surgeons, and is a past president of the Shock Society. Dr. Rice was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow and served as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD) from 1991 to 1992. He was a member of the Board of the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education from 1998 to 2004 and served as its Chair from 2002 to 2004. Dr. Rice has also been a Petersdorf Scholar-in-Residence at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Dr. Rice was commissioned as an ensign in the Naval Reserve Medical Corps in 1966. Three years later, he transferred into the regular Navy and quickly rose through the ranks. He left active duty, but remained in the Naval Reserve, through which he was promoted to Captain in 1991. He retired in 2003. His military decorations include the Legion of Merit.

In addition to appointments at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Dr. Rice has served on the faculty of the University of Chicago, the University of Washington, and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He has spoken widely to a variety of national audiences, and has authored numerous scientific papers, abstracts, and medical texts.

Sara Rosenbaum, JD, is Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy at the George Washington University. She also holds an appointment as Professor of Health Care Sciences at GW's School of Medicine and Law. As a scholar, an educator and a national leader, Professor Rosenbaum has dedicated her career to promoting more equitable and effective health care policies in this country, particularly in the areas of Medicaid and Medicare, managed care, employee health benefits, maternal and child health, community health centers and civil rights in health care systems. Her commitment to strengthening access to care for low-income, minority and medically underserved populations has had a transforming effect on the lives of many Americans, particularly children. In addition to her responsibilities as Chair of the Department of Health Policy, which she founded and developed, Professor Rosenbaum is Director of the Center for Health Services Research and Policy, the institutional home for many of the Department's research activities, and Director of the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program. As a mentor, she is drawn to young people interested in improving health care for the poor. "I am always on the lookout for students who have a keen desire not only to learn health policy, but to apply their knowledge to systemic problems that disproportionately affect low-income, medically underserved, or disabled children and adults," she says. Professor Rosenbaum has been named one of the nation's 500 most influential health policy makers by McGraw Hill. Among other honors, she has received the Investigator Award in Health Policy from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and has been recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services for distinguished national service on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries. As a member of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Clinton, she directed the drafting of the Health Security Act and oversaw the development of the Vaccines for Children program.

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Eduardo J. Sanchez, MD, MPH, serves as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX). Prior to joining BCBSTX, he was director of the Institute for Health Policy at The University of Texas (UT) School of Public Health, and he served as Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) from 2004-2006 and the Texas Department of Health(TDH) from 2001-2004.

Dr. Sanchez chairs the Partnership for Prevention Board of Directors and, through June 2012, chaired the Advisory Committee to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He serves on the American Diabetes Association (ADA) National Prevention Committee and on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity.

Dr. Sanchez is board-certified in family medicine and has an interest in public health. He received the American Academy of Family Physicians (AFP) Public Health Award in 2005. More recently, he was named the recipient of the 2011 Texas Public Health Association James E. Peavy Memorial Award.

Dr. Sanchez received an M.D. in 1988 from the UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He holds an M.P.H. from the UT School of Public Health, an M.S. in biomedical engineering from Duke University, and a B.S. in biomedical engineering and a B.A. in chemistry from Boston University.

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Gail L. Warden, MHA, FACHE, serves as President Emeritus of Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from 1988 – 2003. He is Professor of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan, School of Public Health. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He served on its Board of Health Care Services and Committee on Quality Health Care in America and served two terms on its Governing Council. He has Chaired several committees for the Institute of Medicine such as “Demonstrating Rapid Advances in Healthcare Finance and Delivery Services”; “The Future of Emergency Medicine in the United States”; Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions” and currently Chairs the committee on the “Impact of Health Information Technology on Patient Safety” and is Chair of the Advisory Board for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Policy Fellows Program. Gail is Chairman Emeritus of the National Quality Forum, Chairman Emeritus of the National Committee for Quality Assurance, a past Chairman of the American Hospital Association and the Chair Emeritus of National Center for Healthcare Leadership. He recently served on the Robert Wood Johnson “Commission To Build a Healthier America and is an Emeritus member of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Board of Trustees. He serves on the RAND Health Board of Advisors.

Mr. Warden holds the position of Vice Chairman for the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science’s Board of Directors, and he chairs the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority and the Detroit Zoological Society. He is also a Director for the National Research Corporation’s Board of Directors in Lincoln, Nebraska and the Picker Institute. He served as a Director of Comerica, Inc. from 1990 – 2006.

A graduate of Dartmouth College, Mr. Warden holds a master’s degree in Hospital Administration from the University of Michigan. Mr. Warden received an Honorary Doctorate in Public Administration from Central Michigan University and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Chicago.

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Kenneth B. Wells, MD, MPH, received his M.D. from UCSF and his M.P.H. from UCLA. He is a psychiatrist, a Senior Scientist at RAND, Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine and Professor of Health Services at the UCLA School of Public Health. He directs the Health Services Research Center of the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, which focuses on improving quality of care for psychiatric and neurological disorders across the lifespan. He is the Principal Investigator of the NIMH-UCLA/RAND Center for Research on Quality in Managed Care and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Partnership Initiative. He is also Co-Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation UCLA Clinical Scholars Program and Chair of the Community Health Improvement Collaborative. Dr. Wells is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). He was the first recipient of the Young Investigator Award and also received the Distinguished Investigator Award of Academy Health. In 2006, he received the American Psychiatric Association Award for Research. His current research interests focus on community-based participatory research methods for mental health services improvement in disadvantaged communities.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows Advisory Board

Board Biographies

Board Biographies