SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES The $174 Billion Question: How To Reduce Diabetes and Obesity JULY 23, 2010 RONALD T. ACKERMANN, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P. is associate professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) and director of the Community Health Engagement Program at the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. He also serves as associate director of the university’s Diabetes Translational Research Center and associate director of the IU Center for Policy and Professionalism Research. Dr. Ackermann is a general internist with advanced training in epidemiology, public health, and health policy research from the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Seattle. He is considered a national expert in health care-community partnerships to address unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and improve the prevention and control of common chronic illnesses such as asthma, congestive heart failure and diabetes. Since 2003, he has been the principal architect and director of a large ongoing research program at IUSM to evaluate the feasibility, costs and effectiveness of “partnered” approaches for preventing the development of type 2 diabetes in American adults. Over this period, he has also served as an expert advisor to national groups including the AHRQ, CDC, NIH, NCQA, the ADA, and the Center for Health Care Strategies. ROBERT BERENSON, M.D., is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. He is particularly known as an expert on Medicare. He was a member of the Obama Administration transition team and earlier served in senior positions in two administrations. He also helped organize and manage a successful preferred provider organization. From 1998-2000, Dr. Berenson was in charge of Medicare payment policy and private health plan contracting in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Previously, he served as an assistant director of the domestic policy staff for President Carter. Effective July 2009, Dr. Berenson became a commissioner of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and was named vice-chair in 2010. Dr. Berenson is a board-certified internist who practiced for 20 years, the last 12 in a Washington, D.C. group practice. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. He was co-author, with Walter Zelman, of The Managed Care Blues & How to Cure Them, and with Rick Mayes, of Medicare Payment Policy and the Shaping of U.S. Health Care. He is a graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and is a faculty member at the George Washington University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke. DENEEN VOJTA, MD is senior vice president of the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform and Modernization. In this role, Dr. Vojta created the partnership with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the YMCA–USA to launch the National Diabetes Prevention Program. She now serves as executive vice president and chief clinical officer of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance. As a member of the core leadership group at UnitedHealth, Dr. Vojta supports the development of innovative new solutions to the health care challenges facing the nation. Previously, she served as vice president of research and innovation for the company. She forged practical and sustainable solutions for issues confronting the health care system, including payment reform and chronic care delivery – most notably introducing a Diabetes Health Plan to the commercial marketplace. Before joining UnitedHealth, Dr. Vojta served as CEO of MYnetico, a company she founded to focus on the child obesity epidemic facing the nation. She has 15 years of executive experience in health system and health plan administration. Throughout her career, she has (over) successfully partnered with community stakeholders to improve the health care outcomes of her constituents, served as a board member of non-profit health care institutions and received numerous federal and foundation grants to investigate complex health care concerns. She received her BA from the University of Pittsburgh and her MD from Temple University School of Medicine. LYNNE VAUGHAN is senior vice president and chief innovation officer at YMCA of the USA. As chief innovation officer, Ms. Vaughan ensures that the YMCA continues to be relevant in a rapidly changing world. Since joining the organization in 2006, she has provided leadership in identifying, developing and implementing large scale strategic opportunities that have the potential to significantly strengthen and impact the growth of the YMCA movement. As the director of membership and program development in the 1990s, Ms. Vaughan managed the department responsible for the development of programs and member activities for YMCAs across the United States. In addition, she created the first YMCA Healthy Kids® Day, a nationwide event conducted in YMCAs that focuses on educating parents about the importance of healthy eating, physical activity and strong relationships as a family. This event is now in its 16th year. Later, as vice president of program and membership development at the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee, she had strategic oversight for program development and the creation of a multi-disciplinary program for families with overweight children in partnership with the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. She also led the Gulick Project, the largest organizational transformation effort undertaken by the YMCA to address the nation’s current health crisis. Ms. Vaughan received her bachelor’s degree in physical education from Western Michigan University. In addition to the YMCA’s professional organization, Vaughan is involved in Harvard University’s Project Zero Learning Innovations Laboratory Project. (over)
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