HCFO: staff

Sharon B. Arnold, Ph.D.
HCFO Director, AcademyHealth Vice President
Dr. Arnold is a vice president at AcademyHealth and the director of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) initiative. HCFO is the Foundation’s major vehicle for funding investigator-initiated health services research that examines major changes in health care financing and has implications for public policy. Prior to joining AcademyHealth, she worked at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she directed Medicare payment demonstrations and the implementation of risk adjustment for health plan payments. Her prior experience includes work at CMS' Office of Legislation, at the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, and Mathematica Policy Research. She received an M.S.P.H. from UCLA in Health Services and a Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis from RAND Graduate School.

Bonnie J. Austin, J.D.
HCFO Deputy Director, AcademyHealth Director
Bonnie Austin is a Director at AcademyHealth, where she also serves as Deputy Director on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's HCFO program. She joined AcademyHealth in January 2001 and her responsibilities include evaluating and administering grants, developing and managing conferences on health care financing issues and authoring monographs, newsletter articles and briefing papers. She also serves as Assistant Secretary to the Board of Directors and supports a number of Board committee activities. Prior to joining AcademyHealth, Ms. Austin worked for 10 years as a litigator at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Her practice involved representing clients, including health care providers, in criminal investigations, civil suits and administrative proceedings. Ms. Austin received her MPH from The George Washington University, her JD from University of Notre Dame Law School and her BA from Dartmouth College.

Deborah L. Rogal
Deputy Director
Ms. Rogal is a director at AcademyHealth which was formed in June 2000 following the merger of the Alpha Center and the Association for Health Services Research (AHSR). She joined the Alpha Center in 1991. Ms. Rogal serves as project manager for AcademyHealth’s contract with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), DHHS, to develop integrated “knowledge transfer” strategies that increase the uptake and use of health services research findings by state and local officials, health care purchasers, and health system leaders. Ms. Rogal was deputy director for The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) initiative for sixteen years and remains senior staff to the project. She also serves as the project director for the Commonwealth Fund's, Building Bridges: Making a Difference in Long-Term Care strategic initiative. In addition, she has assisted with the administration and provision of technical assistance under the Foundation's State Initiatives in Health Care Reform program. For five years prior to joining the Alpha Center, Ms. Rogal was a senior planning associate and then a program manager at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts. There she conducted analyses on utilization, cost, and demographics in support of product management for the Medicare supplementary insurance product. She then incorporated these analyses into annual rate filings, program development, and program operations. Ms. Rogal received a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor's degree with honors from Ohio State University.

Kate Papa, Senior Manager, manages AcademyHealth's public health initiatives, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Public Health Systems Research (PHSR) Project and the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality - funded knowledge transfer in emergency preparedness program. In this capacity, she directs activities for the PHSR Interest Group (IG), supports the Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) funding vehicle for PHSR, and develops and fosters networks of emergency preparedness decision-makers. Ultimately, she supports AcademyHealth's efforts to build the new field of PHSR, using lessons from the development of health services research, strengthening the evidence base for the nation's public health system.

Ms. Papa's extensive experience in public policy and public health research, evaluation, and communications includes her previous experience as Director of the Adolescent and School Health Project at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). In that capacity, she developed and promoted national policies and programs to improve child health and access to health care. She supported public health investments in youth related to the prevention of chronic diseases and STDs as well as the promotion of positive health behaviors. Her other relevant experience includes consulting states on welfare reform policies and designing disease prevention and management campaigns for pharmaceutical companies and non-profit organizations.

Ms. Papa earned her Masters Degree in Public Health and a certificate in Maternal and Child Health from Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. She earned her Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Georgetown University. Currently, as a volunteer for the Arlington County, Virginia Department of Public Health, Ms. Papa participates on the MAPP Committee to improve the health and quality of life for Arlingtonians and co-chairs its Chronic Disease Prevention subcommittee. Additionally, as a Member of the Board of the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Fund, Ms. Papa evaluates proposals to use Master Settlement Agreement Funds to prevent and reduce tobacco use among children in the Northern Virginia Region.

Tel: 202.292.6700
Fax: 202.292.6800
E-mail: kate.papa@academyhealth.org

Nicole Hudson
Research Assistant

Nicole Hudson joined AcademyHealth in July 2007. She works as a research assistant with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) initiative. Her main responsibilities include managing grant proposals for health services research and other HCFO sponsored research solicitations.

Prior to joining AcademyHealth, Nicole interned with the American Pain Foundation assisting with advocacy and education efforts, and also with the Michigan State Medical Society. She received her B.A. in Social Welfare and Justice from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Tel: 202.292.6751
Fax: 202.292.6851
E-mail: Nicole.Hudson@academyhealth.org

Megan Ix
Research Assistant

Megan Ix joined AcademyHealth in June 2007. She is a Research Assistant for The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) initiative. Ms. Ix works primarily on the Public Health Systems Research Project, strengthening the evidence base for the nation's public health system.

Prior to joining AcademyHealth, Ms. Ix interned with the World Health Organization, as a member of the Global Non-Communicable Disease Infobase team. She graduated with a B.A. in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University in 2007.

Tel: 202.292.6786
Fax: 202.292.6886
E-mail: megan.ix@academyhealth.org

Jenny Minott
Associate

Jenny Minott is an associate with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) initiative. Her responsibilities include monitoring grants and supporting HCFO's convening and disseminating activities.

Prior to joining AcademyHealth in 2007, Ms. Minott worked as a research associate at the Advisory Board Company, conducting customized research on hospital administration, organization, and governance. She also served as a research assistant for the book Health Care Half Truths: Too Many Myths, Not Enough Reality, and as an intern at the State of Maine's Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance. She graduated from the University of Virginia in May 2006 with a B.A. in economics and a minor in bioethics.

Tel: 202.292.6767
Fax: 202.292.6867
E-mail: Jenny.Minott@academyhealth.org