About the Authors

Blog posts are contributed by NASHP’s SHAP project team including:

Anne Gauthier, Senior Program Director

agauthier@nashp.org

Anne K. Gauthier is senior program director at NASHP, where she directs projects on state efforts to improve health system performance and on state roles in health reform.  Prior to joining NASHP in July 2009, she was assistant vice president of The Commonwealth Fund and deputy director of the Fund’s Commission on a High Performance Health System.  She also directed the Fund’s State Innovations which aims to improve state and national health system performance by supporting, stimulating, and spreading integrated, state-level strategies for expanding access to care and promoting high-quality, efficient care.  Prior to joining the Fund in May 2005, she was vice president of AcademyHealth where she served as: program director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization initiative, a program that bridges the health policy and health services research communities through grantmaking, convening, and the distribution of useable and timely information; senior advisor for the Foundation’s State Coverage Initiative, which works with states to plan, execute and maintain insurance expansions; and a co-project director for a Fund project on administrative simplification in health care. Ms. Gauthier holds an A.B. in molecular biology from Princeton University and an M.S. in health administration from the University of Massachusetts School of Public Health.

Kathy Witgert, Program Manager

kwitgert@nashp.org

Kathy Witgert joined NASHP in July 2008 after serving as an analyst for the Florida Legislature, where she evaluated various aspects of Florida’s Medicaid program.  She previously worked as a federal legislative liaison for the National Institutes of Health, and also in several positions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she focused on infectious diseases and public health system improvements.  Kathy’s work at NASHP is concentrated on health system innovations and Medicaid coverage expansions. She holds a master’s degree in public health from the Yale School of Public Health.

Chris Cantrell, Policy Analyst

ccantrell@nashp.org

Chris Cantrell joined NASHP in June 2008. He has worked on projects ranging from children’s oral health to the emergence of retail health clinics. Prior to joining NASHP, he worked to engage citizens and policymakers in the discussion over health care reform in California. While a student, he worked with charitable organizations to address the health care needs of the homeless population in the District of Columbia. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Clemson University and is currently pursuing a master of public policy degree at American University.

Christina Miller, Policy Analyst

cmiller@nashp.org

Christina Miller joined NASHP as a Research Assistant in July 2010 and works on projects pertaining to state implementation of health reform as well as the SHAP program. After college, she spent a year in New York City serving in the AmeriCorps program as an asthma educator with the non-profit Asthma Free School Zone. Prior to joining NASHP, she interned with the State Affairs Department of the National Association of Community Health Centers where she worked on several projects focused on analyzing health center related legislation in the states. Christina holds a Bachelors of Art in Sociology from Wellesley College and expects her MPH with a concentration in Health Policy from the George Washington University in 2011.