Selected Staff Biographies
Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., is the founding president of HSC. He provides overall leadership to the organization, with particular involvement in site visit research and analysis of health care costs. Ginsburg is nationally recognized for his work in health economics and health policy, especially health care market changes and cost trends, and is a noted speaker and consultant. He was the founding executive director of the Physician Payment Review Commission (now the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) and deputy assistant director of the Congressional Budget Office. Ginsburg conducted health policy research at RAND and on the faculties of Duke University and Michigan State University. He earned his doctorate in economics from Harvard University.
Len M. Nichols, Ph.D., vice president, provides leadership in shaping HSC's research to inform the policy process in a timely and nonpartisan way and conducts research related to private health insurance and health care markets. Previously, Nichols was a principal research associate at The Urban Institute, a senior adviser for health policy at the Office of Management and Budget, a visiting Public Health Service Fellow at the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, now known as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and an associate professor and chair of the Economics Department at Wellesley College, where he taught from 1980 to 1991. He earned his doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois.
Richard Sorian, director of public affairs and senior researcher, oversees HSC's publications, media activities and public policy outreach while conducting research into communication of health policy to policy makers and the public. He previously was a senior researcher at Georgetown University's Institute for Health Care Research and Policy and deputy director of the President's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry. Sorian also was an award-winning journalist and editor of Medicine & Health, a nationally recognized newsletter covering U.S. health policy development, and author of three books on health policy. He has a joint degree in political science and journalism from The George Washington University.
Joy M. Grossman, Ph.D., associate director, coordinates HSC's data collection and research activities. Her research specialties are health plan and provider competition and managed care. She previously was a health policy analyst at the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission and an investment banker. Grossman received her doctorate in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Richard C. Strouse, vice president, directs HSC's surveys. Previously, he was deputy director of MPR's Survey Division, where he was responsible for design and marketing of health surveys for foundations, medical associations and other non-profit organizations. His other research interests include public attitudes toward tobacco policy issues. He received a bachelors' degree in history from Trinity College and did graduate work in Russian history at Columbia University.
Jack Hadley, Ph.D., senior fellow, focuses his work at HSC on studies of the health insurance market and physician behavior. Hadley is a principal research associate at The Urban Institute, a past president of the Association for Health Services Research and a former editor of Inquiry. He received his doctorate in economics from Yale University.
Peter J. Cunningham, Ph.D., senior health researcher, specializes in access to care, the uninsured and safety net issues. Previously, he was a researcher at AHRQ, where he worked on the National Medical Expenditure Survey. Cunningham received his doctorate in sociology from Purdue University.
J. Lee Hargraves, Ph.D., senior health researcher, specializes in patient and consumer assessments of health care, racial and ethnic disparities in health care and quality of medical care. Before joining HSC, he was senior survey scientist at the Picker Institute and an investigator on AHRQ's Consumer Assessment of Health Plans (CAHPS) project. Hargraves received his doctorate in sociology from Boston College.
Cara S. Lesser, M.P.P., senior health researcher, directs HSC's site visit work and specializes in studies of consolidation and market change. Previously, she was a senior research associate at the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California at San Francisco. Lesser received her master's degree in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley.
James D. Reschovsky, Ph.D., senior health researcher, focuses his research on health insurance, managed care and physician issues. Previously, he held academic positions at Michigan State University and Cornell University and was a research fellow at AHRQ. Reschovsky received his doctorate in public policy studies from the University of Michigan.
Sally Trude, Ph.D., senior health researcher, focuses on physician issues and employer-sponsored insurance, including consumer-driven health plans. Previously, she was a senior analyst at the Physician Payment Review Commission and a health services researcher at RAND. Trude received her doctorate in public policy analysis from RAND.
Kelly J. Devers, Ph.D., health researcher, specializes in managed care, hospital and physician organization and quality. She also is an expert in qualitative and mixed-methods research. Previously, Devers was a senior research fellow at AHRQ. She received her doctorate in sociology from Northwestern University and completed an RWJF Scholars in Health Policy Research postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley and at San Francisco.
Ha T. Tu, M.P.A., health researcher, focuses on the effects of managed care and the health care experiences of people with chronic conditions. Formerly, she was an economic consultant to the Center for Health Policy Studies in Columbia, Md., and the Health Care Financing Administration, now known as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Tu received her master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University.
Alwyn Cassil, public affairs manager, directs HSC's media relations and contributes to its publications. Previously, she was a press officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General and CMS and Washington editor of AHA News, the weekly newspaper published by the American Hospital Association. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Florida.