Purpose and Mission

Members of the Education Council advise AcademyHealth leadership on priorities, trends, and needs for educational and professional development among members and the field of HSR.   

Nomination and Selection Process and Timeline

The 2023 AcademyHealth call for Education Council nominations is now open.  Nominations will close Friday, May 12, 2023 at 5 p.m. ET

AcademyHealth staff will review applications for completeness and will work with the Council’s Executive Committee to develop a candidate slate for their consideration and approval. Final sign-off on the slate will be made by the AcademyHealth Executive Team (CEO and Vice Presidents). The Council will consist of 20 members.

New members of the Council will be notified in May 2023. Their terms will formally begin at the June meeting of the Council at the Annual Research Meeting. 

Education Council Terms and Responsibilities

Members of the Education Council are selected for a two-year term and may serve up to two consecutive terms. They are expected to participate fully in the activities of the Council, which are aligned closely with the AcademyHealth priorities as described in the Strategic Plan. These activities may include advising on topics and speakers for invitational sessions at the ARM; participating in invited ARM sessions either as a moderator or presenter; serving as mentors for AcademyHealth Diversity Scholars and other mentoring programs; exchanging relevant information with other Council members (e.g., upcoming conferences or funding opportunities); and attending three Council meetings per year.  

The Education Council meetings occur in person in June at the Annual Research Meeting and twice via a web-based meeting in the Fall and Spring. The Education Council also conducts business by as-needed conference calls and through e-mail exchanges. Council members can also serve on various subcommittees and may be elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the Council, which is made up by the Chair, Vice-Chair, and the AcademyHealth Vice President of Evidence Generation and Translation.

Nomination Criteria and Eligibility

Membership and participation in AcademyHealth programs is seen as evidence of commitment to the organization and its goals to strengthen health services and policy research and promote its use in policy and practice. Therefore, anyone who offers  nominations must be individual members of AcademyHealth or become an individual member of the organization during the nomination process. 

Self-nomination is welcome. Questions about membership status can be directed to Tiffine Winters, Senior Membership Coordinator (tiffine.winters@academyhealth.org). 

Please note that working at an organizational affiliate of AcademyHealth does not meet the membership requirement. If you would like to become an individual member now or renew your membership,  please visit the AcademyHealth Membership page.

In considering nominations, the Executive Committee of the Council will balance the importance of established leadership and continuity of Council membership with the need for candidates who represent the next generation of health services research leaders and emerging training needs based on changes in the field.  Diversity across one or more dimensions (racial/ethnic identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, political, geographic, etc.) is also considered and valued, along with representation from different settings, including academia, independent research organizations, embedded researchers within health systems, etc. 

In 2023, nominees to the Education Council must meet at least one of the following criteria:

•    Director of an HSR training program or a non-degree or fellowship program;
•    Faculty or student leader of a student chapter at an organizational affiliate member of AcademyHealth;
•    Director of other faculty or leadership training programs with strong HSR components;
•    Student in a masters or doctoral-level degree granting program in a field related to health services and policy research, public health, biostatistics, or informatics
•    Student or faculty in a minority-serving institution (MSI);
•    Employer in various settings of health services and policy research (e.g., contract research organization, embedded researchers in health systems, etc.);
•    Representative of one of the federal agencies supporting the training of the HSR workforce and education-related associations; and/or
•    Member of an educational association such as American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), APPAM (Public Policy Analysis and Management), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), National Association for Equal Opportunity in Education (NAFEO), etc.

Instructions for Submitting Nominations

As a reminder, nominators and nominees must be individual members of AcademyHealth, or must become individual members during the nomination process. 

All nominations must include the name and contact information for the nominator and nominee, a curriculum vitae (CV) of the nominee, and a statement of support (500 words or less) from the nominator. Self-nominations are welcome.

The statement should describe: 
•    Why the nominee would be a valuable addition to AcademyHealth’s Education Council; and 
•    The nominee's specific strengths and clear examples of how the nominee meets one or more of the eligibility criteria.

Questions?

Please direct any questions to Troi.Jones@academyhealth.org or Jasmine.Gray@academyhealth.org. 

Returning Members

Thomas Burroughs Headshot
Committee Member

Thomas Burroughs, Ph.D.

Professor - Saint Louis University, College for Public Health & Social Justice

Dr. Burroughs is the Dean of the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University (CPHSJ). Read Bio

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Member

Sharon Attipoe-Dorcoo, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Economics Fellow - Centers of Disease Control and Prevention AcademyHealth Board Student Member

Sharon Attipoe-Dorcoo, Ph.D, M.P.H., a 2015 Alice S. Hersh Student Scholarship recipient, and the outgoing first-ever student board member of AcademyHealth, recently graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health after successfully defending her dissertation on mobile health clinics in the United States. Read Bio

William H. Dow
Committee Member

William H. Dow, Ph.D.

Professor of Health Policy and Management - University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health

William H. Dow is Professor of Health Policy and Management in the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health, where he served as Interim Dean in 2018-19 and for many years directed the Health Policy PhD program. Read Bio

Susan Dorr Goold Headshot
Committee Member

Susan Dorr Goold, M.D., M.H.S.A., M.A.

Professor of Internal Medicine and Health Management and Policy - University of Michigan

Susan Dorr Goold, M.D., M.H.S.A., M.A., Professor of Internal Medicine and Health Management and Policy, studies the allocation of scarce healthcare resources, especially the perspectives of patients and citizens. Read Bio

Mark Holmes Headshot
Committee Member

Mark Holmes, Ph.D.

Professor - University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health

Mark Holmes, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and Director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, where he serves as PI of the AHRQ-funded NRSA Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Training Program in Health Services Research. Read Bio

Committee Member

Christopher Harle, PhD

Associate Professor - Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management

Dr. Christopher Harle is an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Indiana’ University’s Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, where he directs the PhD program in Health Policy and Management. Read Bio

Larry Hearld Headshot
Member

Larry Hearld, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Department of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Larry R. Hearld, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Director of the Ph.D. Program in Administration-Health Services. Read Bio

Michelle Keller Headshot
Committee Member

Michelle Keller, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Research Scientist - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Dr. Keller is a health services researcher in the Division of General Internal Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with training in epidemiology, health economics, and informatics. Read Bio

Patricia MacTaggart Headshot
Committee Member, Member

Patricia MacTaggart, M.B.A.

Teaching Instructor and Program Director - The George Washington University

Patricia MacTaggart is the VHA-Performance Effectiveness Manager of Benefits Realization. Read Bio

Cara Nikolajski headshot
Committee Member

Cara Nikolajski, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Director of Research Design and Implementation - UPMC Center for High-Value Care

Dr. Cara Nikolajski is the Director of Research Design and Implementation at the UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care (the Center), a nonprofit research organization embedded in the UPMC Insurance Services Division. Read Bio

 

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Member, Presenter

Gretchen Piatt, M.P.H., Ph.D.

Associate Professor - University of Michigan

Dr. Gretchen Piatt is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Read Bio

Katherine Sanchez Headshot
Committee Member

Katherine Sanchez, Ph.D., LCSW

Research Investigator and Director, Diversity and Inclusiveness in Research - Baylor Scott and White Research Institute (BSWRI)

Katherine Sanchez, Ph.D., LCSW, is a Research Investigator and Director of Diversity and Inclusiveness in Research with the Baylor Scott and White Research Institute (BSWRI) Baylor Scott and White Health (BSWH). Read Bio

Alicia Thomas HEadshot
Committee Member

Alicia Thomas, Dr.P.H., M.H.S.

Associate Director - Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Alicia Thomas, Dr.P.H., M.H.S., is an Associate Director for the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards program at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Read Bio

Charlene Wong
Committee Member

Charlene Wong, M.D., M.S.H.P.

Assistant Professor - Duke University Department of Pediatrics

Dr. Charlene Wong, MD MSHP is an adolescent medicine pediatrician and health services researcher. Read Bio

Y. Tony Yang headshot
Committee Member

Y. Tony Yang, Sc.D., LL.M., M.P.H.

Professor and Executive Director - George Washington University

Dr. Y. Tony Yang is Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University School of Nursing. Read Bio

Members Who Are Rotating Off (Terms Are Expiring)

Christine Gunn photo

Christine Gunn, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor - Boston University School of Medicine and School of Public Health

Dr. Gunn is a research assistant professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, and the Boston University School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management. Read Bio

Neil Jordan headshot

Neil Jordan, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Jordan is Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Preventive Medicine in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (NUFSM). Read Bio

Julie Schmittdiel photo

Julie A. Schmittdiel, Ph.D.

Research Scientist - Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research

Dr. Schmittdiel is a Research Scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Read Bio

Courtney Segel headshot

Courtney Segal

Ph.D. Student - University of Washington School of Public Health

Ms. Segel's research explores health systems and patient-centered care, patient engagement in decision-making, and the role of patient-generated information during the clinical encounter. Read Bio