Member Bios

Alfred O. Berg, M.D., M.P.H., chair of the EGAPP Working Group, is professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University Of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle. Dr. Berg received his professional education at Washington University, St. Louis, the University of Missouri, Columbia, and the University of Washington, Seattle. He is board certified in Family Medicine and in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Berg's research has focused on clinical epidemiology in primary care settings. He has been active on many expert panels using evidence-based methods to develop clinical guidelines, including chairmanship of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, co-chair of the otitis media panel convened by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, chair and moderator of the CDC STD Treatment Guidelines panel, member of the AMA/CDC panel producing Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services, and member of the Institute of Medicine's Immunization Safety Review Committee.

Katrina Armstrong, M.D., M.S.C.E. is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Armstrong is an active primary care physician with a practice dedicated to serving the community of West Philadelphia . Dr. Armstrong directs the evidence based medicine course (Clinical Decision Making) for the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and is the past recipient of multiple teaching awards. In addition, Dr. Armstrong leads a research program that seeks to elucidate the complex relationship among the social environment, health care use and health outcomes, with a particular focus on the role of health communication. Her research concentrates on several areas of critical policy importance related to cancer control including genetic testing for cancer susceptibility and racial disparities in cancer outcomes. Her current research projects include two RO1s investigating the causes of racial disparities in endometrial cancer survival and the role distrust in ethnic differences in attitudes towards predictive genetic testing, an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award examining the determinants of uptake of novel cancer screening and prevention strategies among vulnerable populations and a project exploring the relationship between racial residential segregation and prostate cancer outcomes as part of the newly funded Penn Center for Population Health and Health Disparities. Dr. Armstrong is the past recipient of a Preventive Oncology Career Development Award from the National Cancer Institute, Clinical Research Training Grant from the American Cancer Society, a Young Investigator Award from the Department of Defense and a Generalist Faculty Scholar Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Jeff Botkin is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah, an Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Medical Ethics and an Adjunct Professor of Human Genetics. He is the Associate Vice President for Research Integrity at the University of Utah with oversight responsibilities for the IRB, conflict of interest, responsible conduct of research, biosafety, and research ethics education. He was an undergraduate at Princeton University and received his MD at the University of Pittsburgh, an MPH at Johns Hopkins University and was a fellow in Law, Ethics and Health at Johns Hopkins in affiliation with the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown. He has over 20 years of experience in the clinical care of pediatric patients. His research is focused on the ethical, legal, and social implications of genetic technology with a particular emphasis on research ethics, genetic testing for cancer susceptibility, newborn screening, and prenatal diagnosis. Dr. Botkin is the former Chair of the Committee on Bioethics for the American Academy of Pediatrics and a current member of the DHHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections. He is a fellow of the Hastings Center.

Dr. Ned Calonge is the Chief Medical Officer of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and the State Epidemiologist. He is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

At the Department of Public Health and Environment, Dr. Calonge is responsible for supervision of health-related divisions. These include the Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, which is responsible for disease outbreak investigation and bioterrorism preparedness and response; the Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division, which provides licensing and regulatory oversight for long term care facilities, personal care boarding homes, ambulatory surgical centers, convalescent centers, hospitals and HMOs as well as oversight and certification for Emergency Medical Technicians, the state Trauma System and pre-hospital care; the Preventive Services Division, which provides direct and collaborative community-based disease prevention services as well as addressing community programs for disease prevention and health promotion for vulnerable populations; the Laboratory Services Division, which provides laboratory support for core public health and environmental protection programs including infectious disease and regulatory surveillance and compliance; and the Colorado Health and Environment Information Services Division which collects and maintains vital records, health survey data, and environmental exposure data. Dr. Calonge is a member of the Governor's Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee and chairs the state Bioterrorism Advisory and Hospital Preparedness Advisory Committees.

Outside of the Department, Dr. Calonge is the President of the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners, which licenses and provides regulatory oversight for physicians and physician assistants. He is currently the Chair of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, a federal panel of experts that sets national recommendations for preventive health care. He teaches epidemiology, biostatistics and research methods at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He serves on the Boards of Directors for the Colorado Academy of Family Practice, the Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, and the Colorado Patient Safety Coalition. At the Colorado Medical Society he chairs the Health Affairs Committee.

Previous to his appointment at the Department of Public Health and Environment in January 2002, Dr. Calonge was the Chief of Preventive Medicine and Research for Kaiser Permanente of Colorado, where he was responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based preventive medicine guidelines and prevention programs and provided leadership, management and research consultation for the Kaiser Permanente Clinical Research Unit.

Dr. Calonge received his BA in Chemistry from The Colorado College in Colorado Springs, his MD from the University of Colorado in Denver and his MPH from the University of Washington in Seattle; he is board certified in both Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine. Dr. Calonge has published numerous federally funded research articles on various topics in the medical literature. He is the 2004 recipient of both the Public Health Award and the Robert Grams Physician Executive Award given by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Since the mid 1970s, Dr. Haddow's interests have focused on medical screening. Between 1974 and 1977, he and his staff developed the first statewide prenatal screening program for open neural tube defects in the United States and then expanded it in the 1980s and 90s to include Down syndrome. In collaboration with other investigators, he and his staff discovered one of the serum markers now in widespread use as a Down syndrome screening marker (unconjugated estriol). Later in the 1990s, he and his staff, together with another group of collaborators, carried out a population study that documented a relationship between undetected thyroid deficiency in the mother during pregnancy and lower IQ in the offspring. As an extension of these interests, Dr. Haddow established the Scarborough Conferences, aimed at bringing together representative scientists, policy makers, regulators and consumers to examine public health implications of new screening initiatives. These conferences are convened on an as-needed basis, rather than annually. More recently, Dr. Haddow has become involved with developing a process (the ACCE process) to assess screening and diagnostic tests in the field of genetics. This activity has expanded his overall area of topical interests to include hereditary breast cancer, colorectal cancer, hemochromatosis, and other disorders. In general, his efforts are currently directed at finding ways to improve the translation of research into practice.

Dr. Maxine Hayes is the State Health Officer for the Washington State Department of Health. She advises the Governor and the Department of Health Secretary on issues ranging from emergency response to outbreaks to preventing childhood illness. She works closely with the medical community, local health departments, and community groups to give the public the latest scientific information on how to become and stay healthy.

Prior to her appointment as Health Officer, Dr. Hayes was the Assistant Secretary of Community and Family Health. Dr. Hayes is clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, School of Medicine, and on the MCH faculty of the School of Public Health.

Dr. Hayes was the 1999 Distinguished Alumna of the Year for the State University of New York School of Medicine at Buffalo and the Year 2000 recipient of the Stockton Kimball Award. In 2000 she was presented an honorary Doctorate of Science by former Acting Surgeon General and President of Spelman College, Dr. Audrey Manley. She is the recipient of many awards and honors for her work in maternal and child health, including the American Medical Association's 2002 Dr. Nathan Davis Award and the 2003 Heroes in Health Care Lifetime Achievement Award through the Washington Health Foundation. Dr. Hayes is also a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and was elected to the Institute of Medicine in October 2006.

Dr. Celia Kaye is the Senior Associate Dean for Education of the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.  A geneticist and professor of pediatrics at the university, Dr. Kaye joined the faculty in 2005.

Dr. Kaye came to the Health Sciences Center from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where she served as Vice Dean, School of Medicine, from 2001-2005 and Chair, Department of Pediatrics from 1997-2002.  Dr. Kaye was Chief of the Division of Pediatric Genetics and Birth Defects in San Antonio from 1989-1997.  Prior to her service in San Antonio, Dr. Kaye served on the faculty at the University of  Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago.  She was co-medical director of the Perinatal Center and Director of Pediatric Genetics and the Genetics Laboratory at Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, Illinois.

Kathryn A. Phillips, PhD, is a Professor of Health Economics and Health Services Research (tenured) at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Phillips holds degrees from the University of California-Berkeley, Harvard, and the University of Texas at Austin and previously spent eight years working for the federal government in Texas and Washington, DC.

Dr. Phillips' research focuses on using quantitative tools to understand health policy issues, particularly in examining the use and cost-effectiveness of health care. A major interest is analyzing the clinical, economic, and policy implications of incorporating genomic information into screening and treatment strategies (pharmacogenomics and targeted therapies, especially in cancer). Dr. Phillips conducts cross-disciplinary research across basic, clinical, and social science and also across academia, industry, and government.

Dr. Phillips has led or participated in approximately 35 funded research grants. She is currently the Principal Investigator on a four-year NIH R01 grant on barriers to colorectal cancer screening and personalized medicine for cancer and a study funded by the Blue Shield Foundation on the implications of personalized medicine, and is directing the economic project in a Packard Foundation study on barriers to women's reproductive health care. Dr. Phillips was previously the Principal Investigator on a four-year NIH R01 grant on the impact of managed care on cancer screening and the Co-Project Leader on two five-year P01 Centers funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (on Managed Care and on Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities). She was awarded a five-year NIH career development (R29 "FIRST") Award in 1990.

Dr. Phillips serves as an advisor to many government and industry groups. She served as an advisor to the FDA on regulation of pharmacogenomics for two years and serves as a consultant or board member for several genomics/diagnostics/venture capital companies. She has served on several national and international panels, grant review groups, and committees (e.g., Institute of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Department of Defense, American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Institutes of Mental Health, the European Commission, Wellcome Trust (UK), and National Human Genome Research Institute). She is serving a four-year term on an NIH Study Section (Health Services Organization and Delivery), and served on the External Advisory Council, University of California Breast Cancer Research Program. Dr. Phillips is a frequent speaker at local, national, and international groups on the economics of applying genetics to health care, with presentations to groups such as the HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society; Johns Hopkins Genetics and Public Policy Center; and the Harris Nesbitt Health Care Conference.

Dr. Phillips has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in policy and clinical journals, including JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs, Health Services Research, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Health Economics, Medical Care, and Annals of Internal Medicine. She serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and Medical Care Research and Review, and Genomics Biotech Institute Section of the Journal of Managed Care Medicine and is a reviewer for over 30 journals.

Margaret Piper, PhD, MPH is an Associate Director with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) Technology Evaluation Center (TEC), an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded Evidence-based Practice Center. She has been with TEC since 1994, joining the staff full-time in 1999. Her experience at TEC has focused on systematic reviews of medical technology, including genetic testing. TEC systematic reviews and reports are publicly available on the TEC website (www.bcbs.com/tec). Dr. Piper can communicate with BCBSA health care plan medical directors and solicit their needs/concerns and those of the populations they serve.

Prior experience includes over 13 years of managing a variety of clinical diagnostic laboratory departments, designing and evaluating new laboratory diagnostics, consulting with physicians, publishing, and volunteer teaching for professional organizations in laboratory medicine. Following a mid-career MPH in epidemiology, Dr. Piper gained experience in cancer epidemiology at the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with a focus on cancer genetics.

Dr. Carolyn Sue Richards is currently professor of Molecular and Medical Genetics and Scientific Director, Molecular Diagnostic Center at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Richards received her Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine and is certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics in Clinical Biochemical/Molecular Genetics. She has been a molecular genetic laboratory director for 18 years. Dr. Richards is a Founding Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG), and is the Chair of the ACMG Laboratory Quality Assurance Committee. She is also a member of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, formerly NCCLS) Area Committee on Molecular Methods, and Co-Chair of the CLSI Working Group on Molecular Diagnostic Methods for Genetic Diseases. She is on the Board of Directors of the Wolfson Institute for Preventive Medicine as well as the American Collegte of Medical Genetics (2007-2013) and an Advisory Board member for the Eurogentest Network.

Dr. Richard's research interests are germline mutations in cancer genes and ultra-rare genetic disorders. The focus of her laboratory in recent years has been the development of a sequence-based approach to identify germline mutations in cancer genes and defining the biological and functional significance of sequence variants in the dystrophin gene. New directions include clinical research collaborative projects focusing on mutational analysis of Rett syndrome patients (MeCP2 gene) and Fanconi anemia patients (FANC genes).

Joan Scott is a certified genetic counselor with over 25 years of experience in clinical, laboratory, and genetic policy. Her clinical experience is extensive and varied: she practiced clinically for sixteen years in a variety of academic, outreach, and private practice settings including pediatric, adult, and reproductive clinics and provided education for health care professionals. In addition, while at the University of Colorado Health Science Center, she coordinated the genetic counseling training program for five years and provided clinical supervision for students. Ms. Scott worked in the genetics industry for eight years as General Manager and Director of Genetic Services at a clinical diagnostic lab and as Director of a biorepositoy in a biotech company. For the last four years, she has served as Deputy Director at the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University. The Center is an objective source of information, research, and policy analysis to help policymakers in the public and private sector to carefully consider and respond to the challenges and opportunities arising from advances in human genetics.

Professionally, Ms. Scott has served on numerous boards and committees including the American Society of Human Genetics and the Board of Directors of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC). She has served on regional genetic service networks in both Colorado and California and currently advises the Genetic Alliance BioBank, the Ferre Institute, and the Johns Hopkins/NHGRI Genetic Counseling Training Program.

Dr. Strickland is Professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Previously Dr. Strickland was professor in the School of Nursing of the University of Maryland at Baltimore. She has taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro. She has held nursing positions at Davidson County Health Department and Harlem Hospital Center in New York City.

Dr. Strickland earned a doctoral degree in child development and family relations from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She took a master's degree in maternal and child health nursing from Boston University, Massachusetts, and received a bachelor's degree in nursing from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro. She received Honorary Doctorate of Science degrees from the Ohio Medical College, Toledo, Ohio; and Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan.

Dr. Strickland is the founding editor of the Journal of Nursing Measurement. She has also served on the editorial boards or review panels of Advances in Nursing Science, Research in Nursing and Health, Nursing Outlook, Journal of Professional Nursing, Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice: An International Journal, Encyclopedia of Nursing Research, Health Care for Women International, Nursing Leadership Forum, and the American Journal of Public Health. Dr. Strickland also initiated the development of the Nursing Citation Index. In addition to her many other professional activities, she has been a member of the Advisory Committee to The Director of the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Nursing Research National Advisory Council, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the American Journal of Nursing Company, a member of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust, and served as an intern to former U.S. Congressman Ralphe Metcalfe (D-Ill.).

Dr. Strickland has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to nursing through her election to the American Academy of Nursing, the youngest person ever elected into the Academy. A former columnist for the Baltimore Sun, her column titled "Nurse's Station," which appeared regularly in the health magazine section of the Morning and Evening Sun, won two health journalism awards in 1988. Six volumes of Measurement of Nursing Outcomes series , for which she identified the need and co-edited, won eight “American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year” Awards. Dr. Strickland has been selected as a Kellogg National Fellow, a fellowship program in leadership for the nation's top young professionals. She was also an Endowment for the Humanities Fellow in Bioethics and an American Nurses' Association Minority Doctoral Fellow, and selected as a Ford Foundation Fellow.

An internationally known specialist in nursing research, measurement, evaluation, maternal and child health and parenting, Dr. Strickland is frequently called upon as a consultant nationally and internationally, and has presented more than 200 lectures, speeches and workshops. Her research on expectant fathers has been featured in over 80 newspapers (including the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune) and on over l,200 radio stations internationally. An Associated Press story about her NIH funded study of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) appeared in numerous newspapers across the nation, and has been featured on three television news programs. Dr. Strickland was one of the Emory site principal investigators for the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), one of the largest known clinical trial of its kind which studied 168,000 postmenopausal women nationally over the course of 9 years. She has appeared on national television shows including on NBC's "Frank Field's Health Field Show," "Straight Talk," ABC's “Nightly News with Peter Jennings” and on several local television programs. In addition to contributing to professional journals, she has written or contributed to 21 books.

Steven M. Teutsch joined the Outcomes Research and Management group in October 1997 where he is responsible for scientific leadership in developing evidence-based clinical management programs, conducting outcomes research studies, and improving outcomes measurement to enhance quality of care. Prior to joining Merck he was Director of the Division of Prevention Research and Analytic Methods (DPRAM) at CDC where he was responsible for assessing the effectiveness, safety, and the cost-effectiveness of disease and injury prevention strategies. DPRAM developed comparable methodology for studies of the effectiveness and economic impact of prevention programs, provided training in these methods, developed CDC’s capacity for conducting necessary studies, and provided technical assistance for conducting economic and decision analysis. The Division also evaluated the impact of interventions in urban areas, is developing a Guide to Community Health Services, and provides support for CDC’s analytic methods. From 1997-2006 he served on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force which develops the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services. He is currently a member of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society; a panel conducting evidence-based reviews of genomics applications (EGAPP); and the Personalized Health Care Work Group for Americas Health Information Community..

Dr. Teutsch came to CDC in 1977, where he was assigned to the Parasitic Diseases Division and worked extensively on toxoplasmosis. He was then assigned to the Kidney Donor and subsequently the Kidney Disease Program. He developed the framework for CDC's diabetes control program. He joined the Epidemiology Program Office and became the Director of the Division of Surveillance and Epidemiology where he was responsible for CDC's disease monitoring activities. He became Chief of the Prevention Effectiveness Activity in 1992.

He received his undergraduate degree in biochemical sciences at Harvard University in 1970, an M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in 1973, and his M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine in 1974. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Pennsylvania State University, Hershey. He was certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1977, the American Board of Preventive Medicine in 1995, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and American College of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Teutsch is an Adjunct Professor at the Emory University School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, U. No. Carolina School of Public Health and Senior Scholar at U. Pennsylvania.

Dr. Teutsch has published over 150 articles and 6 books in a broad range of fields in epidemiology, including parasitic diseases, diabetes, technology assessment, health services research, evidence-based decision making, and public health surveillance.