Board of Directors

Lester Breslow, MD, MPH

Chairman Emeritus

Founding CHI Board Chairman, Dr. Lester Breslow is  professor emeritus at UCLA’s School of Public Health. His career reflects leadership and significant contributions to health improvement nationally and in California. He has served as California's director of Public Health; dean of UCLA’s School of Public Health; president of the American Public Health Association; chairman of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics; and editorial consultant for several health and medical journals. He is the author of more than 200 public health publications.
 

Barbara A. DeBuono, MD, MPH

Vice-Chair

Dr. Barbara DeBuono is chief medical officer, global director of public health and social marketing, at Porter Novelli. She is also an adjunctprofessor in The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in the department of health policy. Over the past two decades, Dr. DeBuono has been a Pfizer executive; chief executive of the New York Presbyterian Healthcare Network; Commissioner of Health at the New York State Department of Health; and Director of Health at the Rhode Island Department of Health. In 2007, in partnership with her sister, Dr. DeBuono co-founded The MAIA Foundation, a public charity that funds programs designed to reduce maternal mortality in sub-Saharan African by providing access to safe childbirth and reproductive and family planning services (www.themaiafoundation.org). She remains co-chair of that foundation. Dr. DeBuono has also served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the CDC, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and on health policy boards for the Center for Health Policy Development and the Partnership for Prevention. She is a board-certified internist and a fellow of the American College of Physicians.
 

Gordon H. DeFriese, PhD

Chairman Emeritus

Dr. Gordon DeFriese is professor emeritus of Social Medicine and Epidemiology in the schools of Medicine and Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was the director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC-Chapel Hill from 1973-2000. He is the former president and CEO of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine. Dr. DeFriese is a member of the Institute of Medicine/National Academies. He was a member of the first U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and a founder of Partnership for Prevention in Washington, D.C.

Thomas P. Houston, MD, FACPM

Treasurer

Dr. Thomas Houston is director of the Nicotine Dependence Program at McConnell Heart Health Center at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and is clinical professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at The Ohio State University. Immediately prior to joining the McConnell Center, Dr. Houston was professor of Public Health and Family Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and held the Jim Finks Chair in Health Promotion. He was director of the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, the state's tobacco prevention and control program. He joined the staff at the American Medical Association in 1990, led AMA's efforts in preventive medicine and tobacco control for 13 years and was director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation SmokeLess States Tobacco Policy Intervention national program office. Dr. Houston is a fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the Institute of Medicine in Chicago.

Neal D. Kohatsu, MD, MPH

Chairman

Dr. Neal Kohatsu is chief of the Medi-Cal Policy Section of California's Department of Health Care Services. Before taking on his current position, Dr. Kohatsu was chief of the Cancer Control Branch of the California Department of Public Health. Previously, he was an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa, College of Public Health. His research interests include obesity, nutrition, physical activity, chronic disease epidemiology, worksite health promotion, and delivery of clinical preventive services. He directed the Preventive Intervention Center, which conducts prevention research. Dr. Kohatsu is board-certified in general preventive medicine and public health and is a fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine. He also is a member of the Delta Omega Honorary Public Health Society.

Marcia G. Ory, PhD, MPH

Dr. Marcia Ory is a professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Rural Public Health at The Texas A&M Health Science Center in College Station, Texas. Additionally, she is the director of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-sponsored National Program Office on Increasing Physical Activity in the 50-plus population. Previously, Dr. Ory spent 20 years in federal service as chief of social science research on aging in the Behavioral and Social Research Program at the National Institute on Aging. She now provides scientific leadership for several national public health and aging networks. She is a distinguished alumnae of Purdue University, fellow of several professional organizations (American Academy of Behavioral Research, Gerontological Society of America, and the Society for Behavioral Medicine), and a recipient of numerous awards for innovations in applied gerontology.

Michael D. Parkinson, MD, MPH, FACPM

Michael Parkinson is the immediate past president of the American College of Preventive Medicine.  He maintains numerous health, health care delivery, and financing innovation strategic partnerships with health and  health care organizations committed to improving prevention, performance, and productivity.  He formerly was Executive Vice President, Chief Health and Medical Officer of Lumenos, a pioneer of consumer-driven health plans and a subsidiary of Wellpoint.  A retired Air Force colonel, his final assignment was as associate director of medical programs and resources in the Office of the Surgeon General where he was responsible for policy and planning for over 2 million beneficiaries, 70 facilities, and a $4 billion budget. He currently serves on a number of boards related to preventive medicine and health quality. Dr. Parkinson is a recipient of the Air Force Legion of Merit, Distinguished Service Award of the American College of Preventive Medicine, and Distinguished Recent Graduate Award from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He received his AB from Cornell University, MD from George Washington University, family practice training at UCLA and his MPH, preventive medicine residency, and chief residency at Johns Hopkins.
 

Peter S. Reed, PhD, MPH

Dr. Peter Reed is CHI’s president and chief executive officer. He came to CHI from the national office of the Alzheimer’s Association, where in his role as senior director of programs he led a staff of nearly 50 in developing, implementing, and evaluating innovative programs for use by the Association’s nationwide network of 77 chapters and 300 offices. He was the principal investigator on three federally funded projects, including the Brain Health Initiative for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He also served as spokesperson for the Association, and has appeared on NBC, ABC, and CNN. He joined the Association in January 2004, after working in research in dementia and aging with the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the University of North Carolina Center on Minority Aging. A Fellow at the University of North Carolina Institute on Aging, Dr. Reed earned his doctoral and master’s of public health degrees in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of North Carolina. He is author and co-author of more than 45 peer-reviewed and invited articles, book chapters, and monographs.