Dora Hughes, MD, MPH, is Associate Research Professor of Health Policy & Management at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, where her work focuses on the intersection of clinical and community health, social determinants of health, health equity, healthcare quality and workforce. Previously, Dr. Hughes was a Senior Policy Advisor at Sidley Austin, where she advised on regulatory and legislative matters in the life science industry. Prior to that, she served for nearly four years as Counselor for Science & Public Health to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at HHS. Her areas of responsibility included implementation of public health and FDA-related provisions of the ACA, as well as signature legislation for tobacco, Alzheimer’s and FDA reform. She served in leadership roles for several White House initiatives, including the Childhood Obesity Task Force, President’s Food Safety Working Group, Committee on STEM Education and Let’s Move.
 
Dr. Hughes began her career in health policy as Senior Program Officer at the Commonwealth Fund, and subsequently as Deputy Director for the HELP Committee under Senator Edward M. Kennedy. She then served as the Health Policy Advisor to former Senator Barack Obama. Dr. Hughes received a BS from Washington University, MD from Vanderbilt and MPH from Harvard. She completed internal medicine residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.