Notes on Contributors

Gerald N. Grob‘s specialty is the history of medicine and especially the history of mental health policy. His major work is a three-volume history of mental health policy (Mental Institutions in America: Social Policy to 1875[1973], Mental Illness and American Society 1875–1940[1983], and From Asylum to Community: Mental Health Policy in Modern America[1991]). His one-volume comprehensive history The Mad Among Us: A History of the Care of America’s Mentally Ill was published in 1994. His most recent book is The Deadly Truth: A History of Disease in America (2002). Currently he is working on a book on the evolution of mental health policy from the 1950s to the present.

Kelly Hunt, MPP, is a research officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and a member of the Disparities Team. Her research activities at the foundation have focused on vulnerable populations, emergency department utilization, and racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Her work on the Disparities Team reflects her interest in data collection and measurement of the issue of unequal treatment. Before joining the foundation in August 2000, Hunt held several consulting positions at Towers Perrin and KPMG. At Towers Perrin, she assisted Fortune 500 companies in designing their health and welfare benefit packages. While at KPMG, Hunt worked on employee health and retirement benefit surveys and published annual reports and peer-reviewed articles reflecting changes in the health care system. Hunt earned an MPP from Georgetown University and a BA from Villanova University.

James Knickman has responsibility for external evaluations of national initiatives supported by RWJF. He and his staff also take lead roles in developing research initiatives supported by the foundation and conducting internal analysis related to the grant-making priorities of the foundation. At various times during his tenure at RWJF, Dr. Knickman also has led grant-making teams in three areas: clinical care for the chronically ill, supportive services, and population health. Prior to joining the foundation in 1992, Dr. Knickman was on the faculty of New York University and directed the university’s Health Research Program, where he conducted research on a range of issues related to health care delivery. In addition to his position at RWJF, Dr. Knickman is currently chair of the board of directors for the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

James Macinko is assistant professor of public health at New York University. He is interested in the impact of health systems on population health and its distribution. His work currently focuses on the evaluation of primary care policies and services in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

Vincent Mor has been conducting research on issues related to the management of chronic disease and long-term care and the role health care organizations play in meeting the needs of these populations. He was one of the architects of the Minimum Data Set for Nursing Home resident assessment and, using the national data emerging from this information, has been examining the role of state policies and market forces on the quality of care provided by nursing homes.

Jason Schnittker is a medical sociologist interested in the social psychological dimensions of health disparities. Recent work has focused on education as a mechanism for promoting population health, racial concordance in doctor-patient interaction, and the cognitive dimensions of physician trust.

Leiyu Shi‘s research focuses on primary care, health disparities, and vulnerable populations. He has conducted extensive studies about the association between primary care and health outcomes, particularly on the role of primary care in mediating the adverse impact of income inequality on health outcomes. Dr. Shi is also well known for his extensive research on the nation’s vulnerable populations, in particular community health centers that serve vulnerable populations, including their sustainability, provider recruitment and retention experiences, financial performance, experience under managed care, and quality of care. Dr. Shi is the author of five textbooks and over 100 journal articles.

Barbara Starfield is University Distinguished Professor of Health Policy at the Johns Hopkins University. Her work focuses on understanding the impact of health services on health, especially with regard to the relative contributions of primary care and specialty care, using both clinical and population-based approaches. Main areas of interest are in primary care, equity in health, health status assessment of children and youth, and case-mix assessment and quality of care. She was the founding and first president of the International Society for Equity in Health.

Douglas A. Wolf‘s research interests include the roles of family and of public policy in the living and care arrangements of the elderly, and the measurement and modeling of disability at older ages. He has also worked on the development of microsimulation techniques for projecting population composition, kin networks, and active life expectancy.