Advisory Committee

Peter Andruszkiewicz

President and Chief Executive Officer, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island

Peter Andruszkiewicz is president and CEO of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI), the state’s largest health insurer with more than 600,000 members. Andruszkiewicz is leading the nonprofit’s efforts to improve healthcare delivery, quality and affordability in Rhode Island.

Before joining BCBSRI in May 2011, Andruszkiewicz was president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, where he spent three years successfully leading operations for the state’s largest nonprofit health plan. His 30 years of health insurance expertise include a strong background in sales, marketing and general management at Kaiser, CIGNA HealthCare and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of the National Capital Area (now CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield).

A native of Salem, Massachusetts, Andruszkiewicz graduated from Springfield College in his home state and serves on the college’s board of trustees. He is a member of the board of directors of the Rhode Island Quality Institute, the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Appointed by Governor Chafee, Andruszkiewicz serves on the Commodores, a group of business and civic leaders dedicated to assisting Rhode Island’s economic development efforts. In addition, he is a member of the advisory committee of the Brown University Executive Master of Healthcare Leadership program.

Andruszkiewicz and his wife live in Rhode Island and have four grown children.

Anne C. Beal, MD, MPH

Chief Operating Officer, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Anne C. Beal, M.D., M.P.H., is chief operating officer of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. A pediatrician and public health specialist, she has devoted her career to providing access to high-quality health care through the delivery of health care services, teaching, research, public health, and philanthropy. As PCORI's first COO, Beal will be responsible for ensuring PCORI develops the structure and capacity needed to carry out its mission as the nation's largest research institute focused on patient-centered outcomes research.

Dr. Beal joins PCORI from the Aetna Foundation, the independent charitable and philanthropic arm of Aetna Inc. As president, she led the foundations work on improving health care in the U.S., particularly for vulnerable patient groups.

Prior to her work at the Aetna Foundation, Dr. Beal was assistant vice president for the Program on Health Care Disparities at the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that aims to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults.

Early in her career, Dr. Beal worked with a mobile medical unit project delivering health care services to children living in homeless shelters throughout New York City. She was also a health services researcher at the Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition, she was associate director of the Multicultural Affairs Office of Massachusetts General Hospital and attending pediatrician within the division of general pediatrics. Dr. Beal has also held faculty positions within both Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health.

In addition to publishing in the peer-reviewed medical literature, Dr. Beal is also the author of The Black Parenting Book: Caring for Our Children in the First Five Years. Dr. Beal has been a pediatric commentator and medical correspondent for Essence magazine, The American Baby Show, ABC News, and NBC News. Dr. Beal holds a B.A. from Brown University, an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, and an M.P.H. from Columbia University. She completed her internship, residency, and National Research Service Award fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

Karen Davis, PhD

Director, Roger C. Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care, Johns Hopkins University

Karen Davis, Ph.D., was previously president of The Commonwealth Fund, a national philanthropy engaged in independent research on health and social policy issues. Dr. Davis has had a distinguished career in public policy and research. Before joining the Fund, she served as chairman of the Department of Health Policy and Management at The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, where she was also a professor of economics. The first woman to head a US Public Health Service agency, she served as deputy assistant secretary for health policy in the US Department of Health and Human Services from 1977-1980. Prior to that, she was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a visiting scholar at Harvard University, and an assistant professor of economics at Rice University. She has written extensively on health and social policy issues, including the books Health and the War on Poverty: A Ten Year Appraisal, and National Health Insurance: Benefits, Costs, and Consequences.

Dr. Davis received the Baxter Health Services Research Award in 2000, the AcademyHealth Distinguished Investigator Award and the Picker Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Patient Centered Care in 2006. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland Baltimore and Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. She is on the Board of Directors of the Geisinger Health System and Health Plan, an AcademyHealth distinguished fellow, and a member of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009 and an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2011.

Constance A. Howes, JD, FACHE

President and Chief Executive Officer, Women & Infants Hospital
Executive Vice President of Women’s Health, Care New England Health Center

Constance A. Howes is President and Chief Executive Officer of Women & Infants Hospital, one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women’s medicine, Women & Infants is one of the tenth largest obstetrical services in the country with more than 8,500 births per year. Ms. Howes was recently appointed Executive Vice President of Women’s Health for Care New England Health System, the health system comprised of Women & Infants Hospital, Kent Hospital and Butler Hospital. In this role, Ms. Howes is responsible for taking the women’s health service line to new levels, including defining strategy and improving clinical growth, patient satisfaction, access, quality, profitability and staff and physician engagement.

Ms. Howes served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Women & Infants Hospital from 1998 until 2002. Prior to this role, Ms. Howes was Vice President and General Counsel for Care New England Health System. Before her appointment with Care New England, she was Vice President and General Counsel for Women & Infants Hospital. Prior to joining Women & Infants Hospital, Ms. Howes was an attorney with Tillinghast, Collins & Graham for 17 years where she practiced primarily in the area of business law and served as Chairman of the Corporate Department.

Ms. Howes is chair of the Governor’s Workforce Board and the Innovation Providence Implementation Committee, a member of the Board of Directors of Roger Williams University School of Law, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, a member of Providence College President’s Council, the Rhode Island Commodores and past member of the American Hospital Association Regional Policy Board 1 and a past member and past Chair of the American Hospital Association Maternal Child Health Governing Council. She served on the NIH Advisory Committee on Women’s Health Research and the executive group of CWISH, the Council of Women and Infants Specialty Hospitals.

Ms. Howes graduated magna cum laude from Kenyon College and received her J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

William Looney, MPA

Editor in Chief, Pharmaceutical Executive magazine

William Looney is the Editor in Chief of Pharmaceutical Executive magazine, a monthly print and weekly on-line publication with a circulation of approximately 70,000 focused on the “c suite” concerns of senior managers in the biopharmaceutical industry. In addition to editorial content, he is responsible for supporting the magazine through related educational media activities and serving as a thought leader in contacts between the magazine and a wide variety of organizations.

He is a contributor to other major publications, ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Nature, and is a recipient of the American Business Media Association Jesse H. Neal award for excellence in business commentary. Prior to joining Pharmaceutical Executive in August 2009, Mr. Looney served for 11 years as Senior Director at Pfizer, Inc. where he managed the company’s public policy issue development, positioning and advocacy activities outside the US. In that capacity, he worked closely with governments, international organizations and the academic and think tank community; coordinated Pfizer CEO relationships with the World Economic Forum, Japan’s Nikkei Management Forum and other policy groups; and chaired committees of key biopharma trade associations, including PhRMA and the IFPMA.

Earlier in his career, he served as an internal communications manager and speech writer at Warner Lambert Company in both the US and in Europe as well as a senior editor for the Economist Intelligence Unit, where he was responsible for the consumer issues and management practices beat. He has also been a consultant to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] in Paris and is the author of numerous research papers and studies focused on the relationship between product and process innovation and public health.

He is a graduate of Connecticut College and holds a Master’s degree from the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University.

Robert Restuccia, MPA

Executive Director, Community Catalyst

Robert Restuccia is the Executive Director of Community Catalyst, a national advocacy organization that is building consumer and community participation in the shaping of our health system. Through Rob’s leadership Community Catalyst has become a national voice for consumers on health issues and is working with advocates in over 40 states to provide the knowledge, resources, and strategic advice they need to effectively bring the consumer perspective to health care policy. Community Catalyst played an important role in the passage of the Affordable Care Act and now administers the ACA Fund, a collaboration of seven national foundations which supports the work of state level consumer organizations in implementing the law. Community Catalyst is currently the national program for Consumer National Program for Consumer Voices for Coverage and Roadmaps to Health and leads numerous other national projects related to health access, cost and quality.

Prior to joining Community Catalyst, Rob was a co-founder and Executive Director of Health Care For All in Massachusetts. There he led successful campaigns to expand health coverage that served as models for state and national health care policy change. During his tenure, Health Care For All grew to become one of the largest and most effective state consumer health care organizations in the country.

He is a founder and was the first President of the Commonwealth Care Alliance, a not-for-profit health care delivery system which is a pioneer in providing integrated care for seniors and others who have chronic disease and complex needs, and currently serves on its Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Herndon Alliance, Health Care For All, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts.

He has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and master’s degree from the Kennedy School of Government. Restuccia is an adjunct professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.

George Thibault, MD

President, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation

George E. Thibault, MD became the seventh president of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation in January 2008. Immediately prior to that, he served as Vice President of Clinical Affairs at Partners Healthcare System in Boston and Director of the Academy at Harvard Medical School (HMS). He was the first Daniel D. Federman Professor of Medicine and Medical Education at HMS and is now the Federman Professor, Emeritus.

Dr. Thibault previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as Chief of Medicine at the Harvard affiliated Brockton/West Roxbury VA Hospital. He was Associate Chief of Medicine and Director of the Internal Medical Residency Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). At the MGH he also served as Director of the Medical ICU and the Founding Director of the Medical Practice Evaluation Unit.

For nearly four decades at HMS, Dr. Thibault played leadership roles in many aspects of undergraduate and graduate medical education. He played a central role in the New Pathway Curriculum reform and was a leader in the new Integrated Curriculum reform at HMS. He was the Founding Director of the Academy at HMS, which was created to recognize outstanding teachers and to promote innovations in medical education. Throughout his career he has been recognized for his roles in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, fellows and junior faculty. In addition to his teaching, his research has focused on the evaluation of practices and outcomes of medical intensive care and variations in the use of cardiac technologies.

Dr. Thibault is Chairman of the Board of the MGH Institute of Health Professions, and he serves on the Board of the New York Academy of Sciences, the New York Academy of Medicine, the Institute on Medicine as a Profession, and the Lebanese American University. He serves on the President’s White House Fellows Commission and for twelve years he chaired the Special Medical Advisory Group for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. He is past President of the Harvard Medical Alumni Association and Past Chair of Alumni Relations at HMS. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Thibault graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University in 1965 and magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1969. He completed his internship and residency in Medicine and fellowship in Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He also trained in Cardiology at the National Heart and Lung Institute in Bethesda and at Guys Hospital in London, and served as Chief Resident in Medicine at MGH.

Dr. Thibault has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors from Georgetown (Ryan Prize in Philosophy, Alumni Prize, and Cohongaroton Speaker) and Harvard (Alpha Omega Alpha, Henry Asbury Christian Award and Society of Fellows). He has been a visiting Scholar both at the Institute of Medicine and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a Visiting Professor of Medicine at numerous medical schools in the U.S. and abroad.

Stephen Weiner, LLB

Chair, Health Law Practice, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Steve chairs Mintz Levin’s Health Law Section. He has had over 30 years of experience in the health care field as a policy maker, educator, and attorney. He represents health care services providers in a broad array of legal matters, including strategic positioning; structuring payer strategies and clinical integration initiatives; and mergers, acquisitions, strategic affiliations, “demergers,” and joint venture arrangements, including arrangements between tax-exempt and for-profit organizations.

He has also participated in a number of international health care activities, including structuring the health care regulatory system for the Dubai Healthcare City, where he now also serves on the licensing board, and representing a number of organizations engaged in the medical tourism industry. In Massachusetts, Steve has been very active in matters relating to the development and implementation of the Commonwealth’s signature health care reform program and in implementing the initiative to create a statewide interoperable electronic health record system, using both state and federal stimulus legislation funds.

In addition, Steve represents health care providers in developing, monitoring, and restructuring relationships between hospitals and physicians; regulatory and reimbursement matters, including licensure, certification and determination (certificate) of need proceedings, managed care contracting, Medicare reimbursement and appeals, and Medicaid and uncompensated care pool reimbursement; fraud and abuse and Stark Law counseling; general contracting; and, for academic medical centers specifically, clinical research, conflict of interest, relationships with affiliated medical schools, and relationships with federally qualified community health centers.

Steve also works extensively with the U.S. Department of Defense on matters relating to the TRICARE and the operations of the US Family Health Plan program.

Steve has been serving as the president of the HealthWell Foundation since its formation. HealthWell is a tax-exempt organization that provides patient assistance and premium support for persons receiving costly medical treatment and drug therapies. He is a member of the board and chairs the compensation committee of the Physicians of Tufts Medical Center, Inc., the parent organization of the faculty practice foundations of Tufts Medical Center. Since its inception, Steve serves as pro bono legal counsel to the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, a foundation promoting compassionate care and more effective communications between patients and caregivers.

Steve serves on the advisory board of the Medical Tourism Association, a nonprofit association promoting the use of high-quality global resources to care for residents from a variety of geographical areas, and of the Center for Medical Tourism Research, based at the University of the Incarnate Word, in San Antonio, Texas.

Steve is currently an adjunct law professor at Suffolk University School of Law, where he teaches a course on corporate transactions in the health care field, focusing on the constraints on business decisions by health care entities created by the application of antitrust law, fraud and abuse of Stark rules, and the laws affecting organizations that are nonprofit and tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Steve also serves as a regional representative on the Yale Law School Association Executive Committee. Steve has served as the chairman of the Massachusetts Rate Setting Commission, special assistant to the Governor of Massachusetts for health policy, associate law professor at Boston University School of Law, director of the Boston University School of Law Center for Law and Health Sciences, and visiting lecturer at Yale Law School and Boston University School of Law. He lectures regularly on health care issues and is often quoted in the media on current developments and trends in the health care field.

Steve has been a member of the boards of the Beth Israel Hospital of Boston and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, an incorporator of Massachusetts General Hospital and of Partners HealthCare System, Inc., a director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts and of the Massachusetts chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, a member of the House of Delegates of Easter Seals Massachusetts and a board member of the Massachusetts Health Council.

Outside of the health care field, Steve is currently a member of the board of trustees of Opera Boston, American Lyric Theatre in New York City, and the Conservatory Lab Charter School Foundation, a support organization to a charter school developed in conjunction with the New England Conservatory of Music. He has in the past served as a trustee of the Huntington Theatre Company of Boston, of the Conservatory Lab Charter School, and of the Boston Ballet, where he served as treasurer for six years.

Steve was named “Lawyer of the Year” for 2011 for Health Care Law in Boston by Best Lawyers. He is also a 2011 recipient of the Good Guy award from the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus for his promotion of equality for women in the workplace. In 2009, Steve was named one of ten Outstanding Hospital Lawyers nationally by Nightingale’s Healthcare News. In 2008, he was selected by Massachusetts Medical Law Report as a winner of its Rx for Excellence Leaders in Quality award. Steve has been listed in the health law section of The Best Lawyers in America since the section originated. He is listed in Who’s Who in America, as well as in Massachusetts Super Lawyers, published by Boston Magazine. He is also nationally ranked by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for his strategic and policy work, and in the 2011 edition, he was recognized as a leading health care lawyer in Massachusetts.

Steve is a graduate of Harvard College, magna cum laude, and of Yale Law School.

Gail Wilensky, PhD

Economist and Senior Fellow, Project HOPE

Gail R. Wilensky, Ph.D. is an economist and senior fellow at Project HOPE, an international health foundation. She directed the Medicare and Medicaid programs and served in the White House as a senior adviser on health and welfare issues to President GHW Bush. She was also the first chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. Her expertise is on strategies to reform health care, with particular emphasis on Medicare, comparative effectiveness research and military health care.

Dr. Wilensky currently serves as a trustee of the Combined Benefits Fund of the United Mine Workers of America and the National Opinion Research Center, is on the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), the Visiting Committee of the Harvard Medical School and the Board of Directors of the Geisinger Health System Foundation. She is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and has served two terms on its governing council. She is a former chair of the board of directors of Academy Health, a former trustee of the American Heart Association and a current or former director of numerous other non-profit organizations. She is also a director of Brainscope, Quest Diagnostics and United HealthGroup. Dr. Wilensky testifies frequently before Congressional committees, serves as an adviser to members of Congress and other elected officials, and speaks nationally and internationally. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan and has received several honorary degrees.