WASHINGTON, DC (September 22, 2016) — Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of two new members to the Governing Board of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI):  Russell Howerton, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Clinical Operations at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, and Kathleen Troeger, MPH, Director of Outcomes Research at Hologic, Inc. in Massachusetts.  In addition, Dodaro named Grayson Norquist, MD, to a second three-year term as chair and reappointed four members.

 “The professional credentials and experiences of today’s appointees are extremely impressive,” Dodaro said.  “These individuals bring important representation to the PCORI Governing Board, including extensive experience in the hospital and diagnostics industries.”

Dr. Howerton and Ms. Troeger are each appointed for a six-year term through September 2022. Brief biographies of these two appointees follow:

As Chief Medical Officer and Vice President for Clinical Operations at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Dr. Howerton is responsible for leading the quality, safety, and risk functions for the system’s four hospitals and for its ambulatory clinics and physician organizations.  These responsibilities include oversight of the quality of care and moving from “volume to value” in clinical services in collaboration with the clinical chairs, chief nurse executives, and other management partners. His VP Clinical Operations role includes responsibility for several service lines, the ambulatory dialysis network, rehabilitation services, and an employed physician network.  Dr. Howerton’s key areas of interest include the operational and clinical aspects of care for patients with complex chronic conditions and co-morbidities and improving the experience of patients with those conditions.  Dr. Howerton has served as the chair of the Chief Medical Officers Group of the Association of American Medical Colleges.  He received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

As Director of Outcomes Research for Hologic, Inc.—a global healthcare and diagnostics company—Ms.Troeger provides strategic direction for health outcomes and comparative research and clinical studies to demonstrate the value of diagnostic and surgical products to patients, providers, and policy makers.  Her areas of focus include in vitro diagnostics, molecular diagnostics, cytopathology, preventive and diagnostic imaging, endocrinology, and reproductive health. She has served on several working groups of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, including the Diagnostic Value Framework Task Force. Ms. Troeger previously held positions at Organon Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer/Parke-Davis Women’s Health Care. A graduate of Vassar College, she received her Master of Public Health from the University of Massachusetts.

The four members reappointed to a second term through September 2022 include: Christine Goertz, DC, PhD, Vice Chancellor for Research and Health Policy at Palmer College of Chiropractic and the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research in Davenport, Iowa; Sharon Levine, MD, Associate Executive Director for The Permanente Medical Group of Northern California; Ellen Sigal, PhD, Chairperson and founder of Friends of Cancer Research, a cancer research think tank and advocacy organization in Washington, DC.; and Robert Zwolak, MD, PhD, a vascular surgeon at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and professor of surgery at the Dartmouth Medical School.

For more information, contact Mary Giffin on GAO's Health Care team at (202) 512-7114, or Chuck Young in GAO's Office of Public Affairs at (202) 512-4800, or visit the GAO Health Care Advisory Committees web page at www.gao.gov/about/hcac.

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