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Biographies of Members
These are the biographies of the current members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. For the biographical sketches, please go to www.uspreventiveservices.org/uspstbio.htm.
Virginia A. Moyer, M.D., M.P.H.
Chair, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
Virginia A. Moyer, M.D., M.P.H., is the head of the Academic General Pediatrics Section and a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. She is also chief quality officer for medicine and chief of the academic medicine service at Texas Children's Hospital. Dr. Moyer is a board-certified pediatrician with expertise in ambulatory care, diagnostic testing, and evidence-based medicine. She is also an experienced researcher, lecturer, and author.
Dr. Moyer serves as deputy editor of Pediatrics, the leading journal in the nation covering issues of child health, and is a past member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Steering Committee on Quality Improvement and Management. She also serves as editor of or reviewer for numerous pediatric journals, including being a founding editor of Evidence-Based Child Health, a Cochrane Review journal.
Prior to joining Baylor and Texas Children's Hospital, Dr. Moyer was a professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at the University of Texas Medical School. There, she was also the associate director of the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine and served on and chaired numerous committees, including the admissions and curriculum committees for the graduate clinical research program.
Dr. Moyer has been a member of many organizations and societies, including the American Pediatric Society and Ambulatory Pediatric Association. She serves as chair of the American Board of Pediatrics' Scholarly Activities Examination Committee. Internationally, Dr. Moyer is a member of the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group and steering committee for the Cochrane Collaboration Child Health Field. Among her many honors, Dr. Moyer was elected to the University of Texas Academy of Health Science Education in 2006.
Dr. Moyer earned her M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine and her M.P.H. from the University of Texas School of Public Health. She completed residency training in general pediatrics at Children's Hospital National Medical Center, and was chief resident at The George Washington University School of Medicine.
Dr. Moyer was previously a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force from January 2003 to December 2008. She returned to the Task Force as Chair in March 2011 for a 3-year term.
Michael L. LeFevre, M.D., M.S.P.H.
Co-Vice Chair, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
Michael L. LeFevre, M.D., M.S.P.H., has worked for the University of Missouri for more than three decades, and currently serves as the Future of Family Medicine professor and associate chair in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. As director of clinical services for the Department of Family Medicine, he oversees eight practices that have 90,000 outpatient visits, 2,000 admissions, 4,000 nursing home visits, and more than 250 obstetric deliveries each year.
Dr. LeFevre also serves as the chief medical information officer for University of Missouri Health Care, a four-hospital system with over 20,000 admissions and 500,000 clinic visits annually. He has provided physician leadership for the transition from traditional paper-based care to the incorporation of the advanced use of information technology across the system. As part of the Tiger Institute, a unique industry-education partnership with Cerner Corporation, he co-chairs the steering committee that oversees joint research and development in the Living Lab.
Dr. LeFevre earned his B.S. in electrical engineering, M.D., and M.S.P.H. from the University of Missouri. He is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), Missouri Academy of Physicians, and Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. He has served on the AAFP Commission on Clinical Policies and Research.
Among his many honors, Dr. LeFevre was elected by his peers to be included in the “Best Doctors in America” list from 1996 to 2008. Since 2008, he has been a member of the Business Group on Health Preventive Services Advisory Board.
Dr. LeFevre is a researcher, widely published author, and consultant, and has been invited to present to audiences across the country. His research and clinical interests include family medicine, information technology in clinical care, obstetrics, preventive services, and women's health care.
He has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since January 2005 and was appointed co-vice chair of the Task Force in March 2011.
Albert L. Siu, M.D., M.S.P.H.
Co-Vice Chair, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
Albert L. Siu, M.D., M.S.P.H., is the Ellen and Howard C. Katz chair and professor of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the director of the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) at the Bronx Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center.
Since 2003, he has chaired the Department of Geriatrics at Mount Sinai—one of the largest geriatrics programs in the nation. As chair, he has grown the clinical, educational, and research programs of the department, which houses a number of signature programs, including the Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, Center to Advance Palliative Care, National Palliative Care Research Center, Martha Stewart Center for Living, Bronx VA GRECC, Division of Diabetes and Aging, and several collaborative programs in geriatrics education, including the Portal of Geriatric Online Education, Donald W. Reynolds Consortium for Faculty Development to Advance Geriatric Education, and New York Consortium of Geriatrics Education Center.
Dr. Siu earned his M.D. from Yale Medical School and an M.S.P.H. at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Public Health. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar fellowship at UCLA. He joined the UCLA medical faculty in 1985, with a joint appointment at the RAND Corporation. Dr. Siu served as chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at UCLA from 1989 until his departure in 1993 to become a deputy commissioner in the New York State Department of Health. In 1995, he joined Mount Sinai as a professor in the Department of Health Policy. From 1998–2002, he was the Clifford Spingarn professor of medicine and chief of general internal medicine at Mount Sinai, before moving into his current role as chair of the Department of Geriatrics.
Dr. Siu is a senior associate editor at Health Services Research and a senior fellow at the Brookdale National Fellowship Program. He has served on several foundation and nonprofit boards. Dr. Siu's research aims to improve the quality and delivery of care provided to geriatric populations. His studies have focused on the measurement and improvement of functional outcomes in the elderly, as well as evaluations of system interventions to improve the care for chronic illness.
Dr. Siu previously served as a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force from June 2001 to December 2006, prior to his appointment as co-vice chair of the Task Force in March 2011.
Linda Ciofu Baumann, Ph.D., R.N.
Linda Ciofu Baumann, Ph.D., R.N., is professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing, affiliate faculty at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and a past president of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. In addition to her nursing license, Dr. Baumann has credentials as an adult nurse practitioner and advanced practice nurse prescriber. She has more than 30 years of experience in the field of clinical education, and has spent significant time in clinical practice.
Dr. Baumann's areas of expertise include global public health, chronic disease management, and behavioral health promotion. On these issues, Dr. Baumann is an experienced researcher, widely-published author, and consultant. She has spoken at medical conferences around the world. Dr. Baumann has co-authored two books, “Health & Physical Assessment” and “Advanced Assessment and Clinical Diagnosis in Primary Care,” which received the American Journal of Nursing's Book of the Year award in advanced practice nursing in 2003.
Dr. Baumann is a member of numerous professional societies and organizations. Since 2007, she has been an ambassador of Research!America's Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health and a member of Vietnam's National Institute of Research Strategies for Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Control. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and has been a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine since 2004.
Dr. Baumann earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Wisconsin. She earned a B.S.N. and M.S. degree in medical-surgical nursing from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Baumann became a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2012.
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Ph.D., M.D.
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Ph.D., M.D., is an associate professor of medicine, epidemiology, and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She is a general internist and attending physician at San Francisco General Hospital engaged in both inpatient and outpatient clinical activities, as well as the supervision of medical students and residents. She is the co-director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Bibbins-Domingo has expertise in cardiovascular epidemiology, particularly hypertension and chronic heart failure, as well as race/ethnic and income disparities in health.
Since 2007, Dr. Bibbins-Domingo has served as the associate director of the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute's Career Development Program, which trains junior faculty for careers in clinical and translational research. Dr. Bibbins-Domingo is a member of the Society of General Internal Medicine and the American Heart Association. She has served on three Institute of Medicine committees.
Dr. Bibbins-Domingo earned her A.B. in molecular biology and public policy from Princeton University. Before starting her graduate studies, Dr. Bibbins-Domingo spent 2 years at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, where she earned an M.S. in chemistry. She earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry, her M.D., and her M.S. in clinical research at UCSF. She was also a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar and a Kellogg Scholar in health disparities.
Throughout her career, Dr. Bibbins-Domingo has conducted extensive research on the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. She has received funding from both government and nongovernment organizations, including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Her work bridges the biochemical, behavioral, and organizational realms and the relationship between literacy, language proficiency, and patient-physician communication. Dr. Bibbins-Domingo is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications, including several articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, Archives of Internal Medicine, and American Journal of Cardiology.
Dr. Bibbins-Domingo has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including induction into the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
Dr. Bibbins-Domingo has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since July 2010.
Adelita Gonzales Cantu, Ph.D., R.N.
Adelita Gonzales Cantu, Ph.D., R.N., is an assistant professor of family and community health systems at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She currently serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Hispanic Nurses.
Prior to joining the University of Texas, she served as the director of patient satisfaction at the University Health System in San Antonio, where she worked for more than 10 years.
Dr. Cantu's research interests include cultural competency in nursing, health disparities among the Hispanic population, physical activity in older Hispanic women, and the recruitment and mentoring of Hispanic nursing students. She is also interested in understanding how diabetes relates to social and individual attitudes toward physical activity in Mexican American cultures, particularly among older women. Her work has been featured in the Journal of Community Health Nursing, Hispanic Healthcare International, and the Western Journal of Nursing Research, among other publications.
In addition, Dr. Cantu has presented at industry events throughout the country, including Winston-Salem State University's Faces of a Healthy Future: National Conference to End Health Disparities II, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities 23rd Annual Conference, and Office of Minority Health's Third National Leadership Summit on Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health.
For her work, Dr. Cantu has been honored with a Partner Award from the South Texas Area Health Education Center in 2008 and a cultural competency leadership fellowship from the Health Research and Educational Trust in 2005.
She received her B.S.N. from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio and her M.S., with a focus in community health nursing, from Texas Woman's University. She completed her Ph.D. in clinical nursing research and her postdoctoral fellowship in multidisciplinary clinical research at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Nursing.
Dr. Cantu has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since July 2010.
Susan J. Curry, Ph.D.
Susan J. Curry, Ph.D., is dean of the University of Iowa College of Public Health, where she also serves as a Distinguished professor of health management and policy. Her work focuses on health policy, behavioral risk factor modification, cancer prevention and control, and community-based and self-help interventions.
Prior to joining the University of Iowa in 2008, Dr. Curry served as professor of health policy and administration and director of the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Curry also served as professor of health services in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington, and as director and senior investigator at the Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.
Dr. Curry earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Massachusetts and both her M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of New Hampshire. She has served on numerous national advisory boards, including the National Cancer Policy Board of the Institute of Medicine, Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute, and Subcommittee on Cessation of the Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health. She is currently vice-chair of the American Legacy Foundation's board of directors. Dr. Curry is a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and American Psychological Association. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2010.
Dr. Curry has been honored multiple times for her influential work. She received the Joseph R. Cullen Memorial Award for distinguished research in smoking from the American Society for Preventive Oncology. She also received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine in 2001.
Dr. Curry is recognized internationally for her expertise in health behavior research and the translation of research findings into health policy. Her extensive research in tobacco includes publications on motivation to quit smoking, randomized trials of promising smoking cessation and prevention interventions, evaluations of the use and cost effectiveness of tobacco cessation treatments under different health insurance plans, and health care costs and utilization associated with tobacco cessation. Her research also encompasses studies of dietary change, modification of risky drinking patterns, and methods of increasing compliance with recommended cancer screenings.
Dr. Curry's work has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Preventive Medicine, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Health Psychology, and American Journal of Public Health. She also serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and is an editorial reviewer for numerous journals.
Dr. Curry has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since January 2009.
Mark Ebell, M.D., M.S.
Mark Ebell, M.D., M.S., is an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at The University of Georgia with a background in family medicine. An experienced researcher, author, and editor, Dr. Ebell’s expertise and research interests include primary care research, point-of-care decision support, health information technology for the primary care setting, evidence-based medicine, and systematic reviews of screening and diagnostic tests.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Ebell worked at The University of Georgia as an assistant to the provost. Before that, Dr. Ebell was an associate professor for more than 10 years at Michigan State University, where he was also a Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar.
An accomplished writer and editor, Dr. Ebell is the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and author and co-editor of seven books. He has also held a number of editorial positions throughout his career and is currently editor-in-chief of Essential Evidence, consulting editor at John Wiley and Sons, deputy editor of American Family Physician, and associate editor of Family Practice.
Among his many honors, Dr. Ebell received the Early Distinguished Career Achievement Award from the University of Michigan Medical Center Alumni Society and is recognized as one of the “Best Doctors in America” by Best Doctors. He has been selected for federal service as a member of the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee and participated in an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study section on health care technology and decision sciences. Dr. Ebell’s professional society memberships include the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians and the North American Primary Care Research Group.
Dr. Ebell holds a B.A. in biology from Kalamazoo College and an M.S. in clinical research design and statistical analysis from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. He earned an M.D. from the University of Michigan, where he also completed a residency in family medicine.
Dr. Ebell joined the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2012.
Glenn Flores, M.D.
Glenn Flores, M.D., is a professor of pediatrics and clinical sciences at The University of Texas Southwestern and Children's Medical Center at Dallas, where he also serves as director of the Division of General Pediatrics, the Judith and Charles Ginsburg chair in pediatrics, the director of the academic general pediatrics fellowship, and adjunct professor of public health. Prior to joining The University of Texas in 2007, Dr. Flores spent 4 years as an associate professor of pediatrics, epidemiology, and health policy and 1 year as professor of pediatrics and population health and director of the Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Dr. Flores is on the editorial board of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved and previously served on the editorial board of Academic Pediatrics. He is chair of the research committee of the Academic Pediatric Association, and he serves as a member of the national advisory committees of the Robert Wood Johnson Amos Medical Faculty Development Program and Aligning Forces for Quality Program. He is also a member of the Committee on Pediatric Research at the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Institute of Medicine/National Research Council Committee on Pediatric Health and Health Care Quality Measures.
In addition, Dr. Flores was an invited speaker at the National Summit on America's Children, an event convened by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other congressional representatives, as well as at the U.S. Surgeon General's Workshop on Improving Health Literacy for the National Institutes of Health. He has also served as a consultant and national advisory committee member for the U.S. Surgeon General, Institute of Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Medical Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, and Sesame Street Workshop.
For his extensive work in the field of pediatrics, Dr. Flores received the 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics Outstanding Achievement Award in the Application of Epidemiologic Information to Child Health Advocacy, and the 2008 Millie and Richard Brock Award for distinguished contributions to pediatrics. He was the 2010 recipient of the Helen Rodriguez-Trías Social Justice Award from the American Public Health Association. In addition to awards, Dr. Flores has received major grant funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Commonwealth Fund.
He has published over 120 articles and book chapters on a variety of topics in journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, and Pediatrics, including many papers that address uninsured children and racial/ethnic and linguistic disparities in children's health and health care. He also serves as a reviewer for numerous journals, including the American Journal of Public Health.
Dr. Flores earned his A.B. from Harvard University and his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He completed his residency in pediatrics at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at Yale University School of Medicine.
Dr. Flores has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since July 2010.
David C. Grossman, M.D., M.P.H.
David C. Grossman, M.D., M.P.H., is senior investigator at the Group Health Research Institute and medical director of preventive care and practicing pediatrician at the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle. He leads a group of scientists and practitioners who research the design, promotion, delivery, and evaluation of preventive care services.
Additionally, Dr. Grossman is currently a professor of health services and adjunct professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington Schools of Public Health and Medicine. Prior to joining Group Health in 2004, Dr. Grossman served as director of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center at the University of Washington.
Dr. Grossman earned his B.S. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. He completed medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles and earned his M.P.H. from the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine. He completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a postgraduate fellowship in the University of Washington's Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program.
Dr. Grossman holds numerous leadership positions within the professional community. He is a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and an executive committee member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.
Dr. Grossman received the American Academy of Pediatrics' Native American Child Health Advocacy Award in 2007 and the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association's Outstanding Service Award for Injury Control in 2004, and has served on the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
Dr. Grossman's past prevention-based research work has focused on gun safety, child and adolescent injury prevention, and health services for Native Americans. Much of his recent work includes researching the impact of health plan- and delivery system-based innovations to improve the delivery of preventive services, developing and implementing population-based prevention programs, and prioritizing preventive services for populations. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including several articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association, American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and Pediatrics, among others.
Dr. Grossman has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since January 2008.
Jessica Herzstein, M.D., M.P.H.
Jessica Herzstein, M.D., M.P.H., an expert in public health, screening, and preventive health services, is the global medical director at Air Products, where she develops, implements, and oversees global health programs for 20,000 employees. In addition to her work with Air Products, Dr. Herzstein is an environmental health consultant and guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She is an accomplished public health specialist with more than 20 years of experience in teaching, research, patient care, and health care program administration.
Dr. Herzstein previously worked as a medical director at the Department of Defense, a consultant to the Harvard Institute of International Development and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and as a clinical faculty member at Temple University School of Medicine and Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington, PA.
An accomplished writer and editor, Dr. Herzstein has written and edited multiple articles and books on environmental medicine, preventive medicine, and occupational health, including the books “Environmental Medicine: Principles and Practice” and “Issues in International Occupational and Environmental Medicine.” She has also lectured on these and other preventive health topics at major universities and industry events, including the International Commission on Occupational Health, the American Occupational Health Conference, and the American College of Physicians Conference.
Dr. Herzstein is involved in a number of professional societies. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Commission on Occupational Health, the National Business Group on Health, and the American Public Health Association. She is also a fellow at the American College of Physicians and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Dr. Herzstein holds an A.B. in chemistry from Harvard University, where she graduated cum laude. She earned M.D. and M.P.H. degrees in environmental health from Yale University, where she was a Dana Fellow in Occupational and Environmental Health. She completed her internship at the University of California, San Francisco and her residency at Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard University School of Medicine, in the field of internal medicine and primary care.
Dr. Herzstein joined the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2012.
Joy Melnikow, M.D., M.P.H.
Joy Melnikow, M.D., M.P.H., is the director of the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research and a professor of family and community medicine at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).
Prior to joining UC Davis in 1998, Dr. Melnikow served as a research director and faculty physician at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland and as an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University, and worked for the Indian Health Service.
Dr. Melnikow received her M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco and her M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Massachusetts and also earned an undergraduate degree in liberal studies from San Francisco State University.
Dr. Melnikow currently serves on the executive committee for the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has been involved in many professional organizations, including the American Cancer Society (ACS), California Osteoporosis Prevention and Education Advisory Panel, and Public Health Service Advocacy Network for Departments of Family Medicine, among others. She is currently a deputy editor of the journal Medical Care, standing member of the Health Services Organization and Delivery Study Section at the National Institutes of Health, contributing member of the California Health Benefits Program Task Force for the University of California's Office of the President, and associate medical director of Healthwise, Inc.
Dr. Melnikow's research focuses on cancer prevention, women's health, patient preference and decisionmaking, comparative effectiveness, cost effectiveness, underserved populations, and health disparities. With funding by private foundations, such as ACS, California Breast Cancer Research Program, and National Cancer Institute, she has pursued research on effectiveness, preferences, decisionmaking, and cost effectiveness of preventive interventions related primarily to breast and cervical cancer. Dr. Melnikow's work has been published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Journal of the American Medical Association, among others.
For her extensive research and professional involvement, Dr. Melnikow has received multiple honors and awards. She received the Walter Kemp Award in 1993 for her paper on successful breastfeeding skills, which was published in American Family Physician. She was also honored with the Christine Landgraff Award for cancer research in 1996.
Dr. Melnikow has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since January 2009.
Wanda K. Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.
Wanda K. Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
Prior to joining the University of North Carolina in 2010, she served as an assistant and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of population, family, and reproductive health sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health for more than 10 years.
Dr. Nicholson is a member of the Epidemiology Council National Meeting Planning Committee at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and a member of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation. Dr. Nicholson is also an abstract reviewer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Annual Maternal Child Health Epidemiology Conference. In addition, Dr. Nicholson currently serves on a variety of national advisory panels, including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the ADA Special Task Force on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Reproductive-Age Women with Diabetes, and the CDC's Public Health Working Group on Preconception Care and Health Care. She is also an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology's oral boards.
Dr. Nicholson's research focuses on the epidemiology of chronic conditions in women, including gestational and type 2 diabetes, obesity, and depression. Dr. Nicholson has been an investigator on numerous grants for organizations such as the Health Resources and Services Administration, ACOG, and ADA. Through funding from ADA, Dr. Nicholson has developed a postpartum-specific weight loss intervention, “First Weight-loss Interventions after Delivery,” for women at risk for type 2 diabetes. Her articles have been published in the Journal of Women's Health, Maternal and Child Health Journal, and American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, among others.
In 2005, Dr. Nicholson was selected for membership in Alpha Phi Omega, a public health honor society, for her work in the epidemiology of women's health. She was the 2007 ACOG nominee for the Secretary's Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020 and earned the ACOG Women's Health Policy Research Award in 1997 and 1998. Dr. Nicholson was also selected for the William J. Fulbright Fellowship to Cape Town, South Africa in 1997 and completed a fellowship at ACOG in 1994.
Dr. Nicholson completed medical school and residency training at the University of North Carolina. Following residency, she completed the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of California, San Francisco. She earned her M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley and completed her M.B.A. in medical management at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Nicholson has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since January 2009.
Douglas K. Owens, M.D., M.S.
Douglas K. Owens, M.D., M.S., is associate director of the Center for Health Care Evaluation at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Henry J. Kaiser, Jr., Professor and director of the Center for Health Policy in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and director of the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research in the School of Medicine at Stanford University. He is a general internist and senior investigator at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Palo Alto Health Care System. Dr. Owens is also a professor of medicine and of health research and policy at Stanford, and is a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Dr. Owens is the former director of the University of California, San Francisco Evidence-Based Practice Center, and currently directs three training programs in health services research: the Fellowship Program in Health Research and Policy at Stanford, the VA Physician Fellowship in Health Services Research, and the VA Postdoctoral Informatics Fellowship Program. Dr. Owens has established methods for developing clinical practice guidelines tailored to specific patient populations. He is a past president of the Society for Medical Decision Making. In addition, Dr. Owens chaired the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians, a committee that develops clinical guidelines that are used widely and are published regularly in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Owens’ research focuses on technology assessment, cost-effectiveness analysis, evidence synthesis, and methods for clinical decisionmaking. His current topics of study include the cost-effectiveness of preventive and therapeutic interventions for HIV/AIDS in several countries, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for cardiovascular disease, and approaches to quality improvement.
Dr. Owens received a B.S. and an M.S. from Stanford University and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a fellowship in health research and policy at Stanford. Dr. Owens received the VA Undersecretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research, as well as the Eisenberg Award for Leadership in Medical Decision Making from the Society for Medical Decision Making.
Dr. Owens joined the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in January 2012.
Carolina Reyes, M.D., M.P.H.
Carolina Reyes, M.D., M.P.H., is a practicing perinatologist in maternal and fetal medicine at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia. Dr. Reyes specializes in maternal and child health, interconception care, and diabetes, and is an advocate for improving health care quality and reducing disparities in care.
Prior to joining the Virginia Hospital Center, Dr. Reyes served as the principal investigator of the Los Angeles Best Babies Network, where she coordinated a Healthy Birth Initiative to improve pregnancy outcomes in Los Angeles County. She also served as an associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Southern California, where she was also director of Diabetes in Pregnancy. Dr. Reyes has also previously held positions at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
She earned her B.A. in human biology from Stanford University, her M.D. from Harvard University, and her M.P.H. from University of California, Los Angeles. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California and a maternal-fetal medicine fellowship from the same institution.
Dr. Reyes has been affiliated with many professional organizations, including the American Institute of Ultrasound Medicine, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and American Public Health Association. She currently is a member of the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Los Angeles Obstetrics and Gynecology Society.
Dr. Reyes has earned numerous awards in recognition of her professional and community service, including awards from the Los Angeles Medical Women's Association, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and California/Latino Medical Association, as well as the National Medical Fellowship Distinguished Alumni Award and the National Hispanic Scholarship Leadership Award. She was appointed as a senior scholar at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) dedicated to improving the quality of care for maternal health. In 2000, Dr. Reyes led the expert meeting “Maternal Health Care Quality, Utilization, and Use: Developing a Research Agenda.” She also led the development of a health services research agenda on intimate partner violence and received an AHRQ Director's Team Award.
Dr. Reyes has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since July 2010.
Timothy J. Wilt, M.D., M.P.H.
Timothy J. Wilt, M.D., M.P.H., is a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. He is also a staff physician in the Section of General Medicine at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VAHCS) and a core investigator in the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Services Research and Development Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research.
Dr. Wilt has held a position at the University of Minnesota since 1987. He has served in a variety of academic and teaching capacities at the Minneapolis VAHCS, including director of the University of Minnesota/Minneapolis VAHCS general internal medicine/ambulatory care fellowship program from 1989 to 2006 and member of the Minneapolis VAHCS Education Task Force.
Currently, Dr. Wilt is the coordinating editor of the Cochrane Collaborative Review Group for Prostatic Diseases & Urologic Malignancies, co-director of the Minnesota Evidence-Based Practice Center, and director of the Minneapolis VA Evidence Synthesis Program. In addition, Dr. Wilt is a fellow in the American College of Physicians and member of the Association of Specialty Professors, as well as advisory board member for the Cochrane Cancer Network and member of the VA Preventive Medicine Advisory Committee. Dr. Wilt has served on numerous advisory panels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has provided evidence reports to inform the work of national clinical guideline groups. He is on the editorial board of the American Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Wilt's research interests are at the intersections of health care research, practice, and policy, with a focus on evidence-based chronic disease prevention, detection, and management, especially related to common urologic diseases in older adults. He has received continuous research funding for more than 20 years from NIH, VA, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and other national health care organizations. Dr. Wilt has contributed to more than 200 publications that have appeared in journals such as Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, British Journal of Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, and Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Wilt earned his B.A. at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, his M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and his M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Dr. Wilt completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine.
Dr. Wilt has been a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force since January 2008.
Current as of February 2012
Internet Citation:
Biographies of Members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/tflongbios.htm
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