Notes on Contributors

Jeffrey A. Alexander is the Richard Carl Jelinek Professor of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health, University of Michigan. He also holds positions as professor of organizational behavior and human resources management, School of Business; and faculty associate, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research. His teaching and research interests focus on organizational change in the health care sector, multi-institutional systems, governance, and organizational factors related to quality of care. His recent publications have appeared in Health Services Research, The Milbank Quarterly, Medical Care Research and Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, and Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Drew E. Altman is president and CEO of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, private operating foundation, which develops and runs its own research and communications programs, often in partnership with outside organizations. In 1991, Altman came to the foundation and directed a complete overhaul of its mission and operating style, leading to the foundation’s standing today as a leader in health policy and communications. He earned his PhD in political science from MIT, did his postdoctoral work at the Harvard School of Public Health, and taught graduate courses in public policy at MIT before moving on to public service. He is an innovator in the world of foundations and a leading expert on national health policy who publishes and speaks widely on health issues.

John M. Benson is managing director of the Harvard Opinion Research Program. At Harvard since 1992, Benson has directed numerous national and international polling projects leading to more than eighty publications in JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs, Public Opinion Quarterly, Brookings Review, Social Science Research, and other domestic policy and polling journals. Since 1995, Benson has played a key role in the design and analysis of a series of surveys with The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation on public knowledge, values, and attitudes on domestic policy issues. He received his MA in history of science from the University of Wisconsin.

Robert J. Blendon is professor of health policy and political analysis at both the Harvard School of Public Health and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He also directs the Harvard Opinion Research Program and the Henry J. Kaiser National Program on the Public, Health and Social Policy. Blendon also co-directs The Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey project, as well as a project for USA Today and KFF on American attitudes toward health care. He is a past president of the Association of Health Services Research and winner of its Distinguished Investigator Award. He is also a recipient of the Baxter Award for lifetime achievement in the health services research field. Blendon holds both an MBA and a ScD.

Tami Buhr is assistant director of the Harvard Opinion Research Program (HORP). She holds an MA and has worked in the field of public opinion research for nearly twenty years at Harvard University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Iowa. Prior to coming to HORP, Buhr was the research coordinator at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. She has published several articles and book chapters on public opinion, elections, and the news media.

Mollyann Brodie is vice president, director of public opinion and media research for the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. She directs a variety of public knowledge and survey-related projects including ongoing survey partnerships with The Washington Post, USA Today,and the San Jose Mercury News. Her research efforts focus on understanding public opinion and knowledge on policy issues, and the role of the media in health policy debates. Brodie received her PhD in health policy from Harvard University, holds a master of science degree in health policy and management from Harvard’s School of Public Health, and has a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Julie Donohue is an assistant professor of health policy and management in the graduate school of public health at the University of Pittsburgh. Donohue received her PhD in health policy at Harvard University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmaceutical policy research at Harvard Medical School. Her research has examined the effects of pharmaceutical promotion of antidepressants to consumers and physicians, and the financing of mental health services. Donohue is currently conducting research on the impact of pharmacy insurance benefits on the use of prescription drugs among elders, including the impact of the new Medicare drug benefit on treatment patterns among beneficiaries with chronic illnesses.

Andrew J. Imparato is a disability rights attorney and the first full-time president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the largest cross-disability membership organization in the United States. Prior to joining AAPD, Imparato worked as an attorney and policy advisor with the National Council on Disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy. Imparato’s perspective is informed by his personal experience with bipolar disorder.

Shoou-Yih D. Lee is an associate professor of health policy and administration and a research fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lee’s main research interest is in health care organizations. In addition, he has conducted studies on issues related to health care utilization and physician manpower. His current research applies the theories of social capital, social support, and social networks to the understanding of health care organizations and patient behavior. Lee has a PhD from the University of Michigan.

Gina A. Livermore is the assistant director and a senior research associate for the Cornell University Institute for Policy Research. As well as holding a PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin, Livermore has extensive research and evaluation experience related to SSA programs. She is currently working on SSA’s Ticket to Work evaluation. Other disability-related research experience includes: analysis of the impact of substance abuse and mental illness comorbidity on labor force participation; study of the impact of health insurance availability on the employment of persons with disabilities; study of the effect of rising health expenditures on the employment of people with high-cost chronic health conditions; and research on employment supports for people with disabilities. She has also designed and conducted evaluations for a number of Medicaid, Medicare, and health-related interventions.

Bonnie L. O’Day is a senior research associate at the Cornell University Institute for Policy Research. O’Day conducts research and evaluation studies on employment, health care, and independent living using in-depth interviews, focus groups, and survey research methods. O’Day is currently collaborating on several projects including an evaluation of the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work Program, Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers on Employment Outcomes and on Disability Statistics, and demonstrations on youth transition and SSDI benefit offset. She received her PhD from Brandeis University.

David C. Stapleton is the director of the Cornell University Institute for Policy Research, established under his leadership in 2000. For the past fourteen years, Stapleton’s work has focused on the economics of disability policies, especially the impacts of policies on employment and economic independence. Stapleton is currently co-PI for Cornell’s Research, Rehabilitation and Training Center on Employment Policy for People with Disabilities, for Cornell’s Statistics and Demography Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, for the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program, and for the design of SSA’s Benefit Offset Demonstration. Stapleton has a PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.