Rebecca G. Whitaker

Rebecca G. Whitaker, PhD, MSPH, is managing associate at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University. In this role, she helps lead the Center’s research and policy analysis related to care delivery and payment reform with a particular emphasis on North Carolina’s health care transformation. Dr. Whitaker has extensive experience in health services research, policy analysis, and program and policy implementation focused on Medicaid, social drivers of health, safety-net delivery systems, and historically marginalized populations. Prior to joining Duke-Margolis, Dr. Whitaker served as director of health policy & governmental affairs at the North Carolina Community Health Center Association, where she led the association’s state and federal policy agenda and guided North Carolina health centers through large-scale payment and care delivery reforms, including Affordable Care Act implementation. She earned her PhD and MSPH in health policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her AB in psychology, Spanish, and Portuguese from Princeton University.