Founding Director

Dana has served in numerous clinical, policy, and nonprofit leadership roles committed to improving health outcomes. Most recently Dana served as the Chief Medical Officer for the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) for five years, providing key state leadership before and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As Chief Medical Officer, Dana was the agency’s liaison to Oregon’s hospital and health system throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, regularly convening clinical leaders across the state to work together and ensure patients had access to intensive care beds, ventilators, and other life-saving resources. Dana was also instrumental during the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out providing leadership for the state’s work on vaccine prioritization, distribution, and addressing inequitable vaccine access. 

Beyond Dana's leadership role in the pandemic emergency response, she has also overseen OHA teams that support the state’s Medicaid benefit determination, pharmacy policy, medical home policies and led children’s health policy as the OHA Child Health Director for four years. She has also been a strategic advisor across key behavioral health areas. Most recently, Dana led the recruitment and support for OHA’s Strategic Action Team established to help advance the agency’s strategic goal to eliminate health inequities in Oregon by 2030.  

Beyond her governmental roles, Dana has served as the chief executive officer for the Oregon Public Health Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and served as an independent, health policy consultant focused on child health and health policy. In addition to her public health and policy focus, Dana is a board-certified pediatrician who has worked in academic medicine and continues to work part-time as a general pediatrician in a small, urban, community-based clinic. Recognized as respected leader, strategist, communicator, and facilitator, Dana is deeply committed to focusing her career on supporting communities and community leaders who have faced injustice and longstanding health inequities in their self-determined pursuit of health. 

Dana received her BA degree in molecular biology from Princeton University, her medical degree from Georgetown University, and her master's degree in public health from Portland State University. In her spare time, you will find Dana spending time with her family and enjoying outdoor adventures in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.