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Christine Ferguson, Research Professor, George Washington University

Related Link: http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/departments/healthpolicy/

Biography provided by participant

Prior to joining the faculty of George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services, Christine Ferguson served for over two decades at the highest levels government. She has an unusual combination of federal and state experience in health care financing, public health and social services. She has served as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Human Services, and Counsel and Deputy Chief of Staff to the late U.S. Senator John H. Chafee. She has devoted her career to improving health care services, access, financing and health outcomes for all populations particularly in the areas of Medicare, Medicaid, tax expenditures, public health and safety, obesity and chronic disease, maternal and child health, safety net providers and commercial insurance. She is committed to making existing federal and state health systems work more effectively.

Ferguson served on the Committee on Health Insurance Status and its Consequences at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and is currently a member of the Board on Children, Youth and Families for the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. She is the Director of the STOP Obesity Alliance. She has served on the boards of the Neighborhood Health Plan, the National Academy of State Health Policy and a variety of other national organizations. She has been named one of the most influential health policy makers by Faulkner and Gray Healthcare and one of the nation’s 100 most influential lawyers by the National Law Journal.

Ferguson holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a JD from the Washington College of Law, The American University.

Recent Responses

March 10, 2009 12:52 PM

RE: What Big Mistake Are We Making?

   Today’s price tag for obesity is $76 billion in direct costs and $117 billion in indirect expenses. By 2012 it is estimated that 40% of Americans will be obese. We have allowed this epidemic to sneak up and overtake us. In ten year’s time, we will undoubtedly regret not giving more attention to the obesity epidemic by fully recognizing and addressing its impact on our health care system and its relationship to chronic disease.    Obesity is associated with an extensive list of co-morbid conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer.  But it also has been…  Read more
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