Population Health

Leadership

Over the course of the UW’s 25-year vision for the Population Health Initiative, the president and provost recognize the need to stay nimble with respect to the leadership of, and the individuals involved with, this effort.

To support this work, UW President Ana Mari Cauce created and is chairing the initiative’s executive council, which includes senior leaders, faculty, students and staff representing a range of contributing colleges, schools, programs and stakeholder units. An external advisory board was also formed to offer strategic guidance to the initiative.

Population Health Initiative executive council

The Population Health Initiative is governed internally by a 30-member executive council responsible for developing, implementing and measuring progress toward the initiative’s goals. Learn more about the council’s structure in its governance plan.

Current members

The executive council represents all three UW campuses as well as the undergraduate and graduate student populations.

  • Ana Mari Cauce, president; chair
  • Tricia Serio, provost and executive vice president
  • Ali Mokdad, chief strategy officer for population health; professor of health metrics sciences (IHME); vice chair
  • José Alaniz, professor of Slavic Languages & Literature, College of Arts & Sciences
  • Jody Early, professor of Nursing and Health Studies, UW Bothell
  • John Fortney, professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine
  • Nancy Hertzog, professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development, College of Education
  • Soo-Hyung Kim, professor of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment
  • Sharon Laing, associate professor of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership, UW Tacoma
  • Clarita Lefthand-Begay, assistant professor, Information School
  • Ivy Lin, acting assistant professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry
  • Karin Martin, associate professor, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance
  • Peggy Odegard, professor and vice dean, School of Pharmacy
  • Elizabeth Pendo, professor and senior associate dean, School of Law
  • Afroditi Psarra, associate professor of DXARTS, College of Arts & Sciences
  • Suzie Pun, professor of Bioengineering, College of Engineering and School of Medicine
  • Magaly Ramirez, assistant professor of Health Systems and Population Health, School of Public Health
  • Jennifer Romich, professor, School of Social Work
  • Marie Spiker, assistant professor of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
  • Dylan Stevenson, assistant professor of Urban Design and Planning, College of Built Environments
  • Ava Vaughan, undergraduate representative, College of the Environment and Foster School of Business
  • Monica Vavilala, professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and Pediatrics, School of Medicine
  • Mayumi Willgerodt, associate professor of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing, School of Nursing
  • Maxine Wright, graduate student representative, College of Arts & Sciences
  • Yong-Pin Zhou, professor of Operations Management, Foster School of Business
  • Joseph Zunt, professor of Global Health and Neurology, Schools of Medicine and Public Health
  • Mary Gresch, senior vice president, University Advancement (ex officio)
  • Tamara Michel Josserand, vice president for Development, University Advancement (ex officio)
  • Gayle Christensen, interim vice provost, Office of Global Affairs (ex officio)
  • Derek Fulwiler, director of strategy and communications, Executive Office; project director

The Council thanks its emeritus members for their service to the initiative.

Population Health Initiative external advisory board

The initiative has recruited a distinguished body of external advisors from a range of sectors and disciplines to offer the initiative guidance in areas such as strategic planning and program development, furthering the university’s understanding of population health trends and helping to assess the effectiveness of the initiative.

This board is chaired by Bill Neukom, who is known for his decades-long leadership of Microsoft’s law and corporate affairs team and then at the American Bar Association, and his success as CEO of the San Francisco Giants and founder/CEO of the World Justice Project.

The board’s full membership is:

  • Bill Neukom, Founder and CEO, World Justice Project, Chair
  • Kendra Aga Khan, Aga Khan Development Network
  • Abigail Echo-Hawk, Director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, Chief Research Officer for the Seattle Indian Health Board
  • Chris Elias, President of Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Jessica Hellmann, Professor of Ecology and Director of the Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota
  • Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, Professor Emeritus of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Population Health and Health Equity, and Healthcare Management, University of Pennsylvania
  • Samba Sow, Director, CVD-Mali
  • Brady Walkinshaw, Emerson Collective