Foundation Staff
GARY A. PUCKREIN, PHD
President and CEO
Dr. Puckrein is a visionary leader who established the Foundation
in 1998 to help communities and policy-makers eliminate the disproportionate
burden of premature death and preventable illness in special populations
through the use of evidence-based, data-driven initiatives. Dr. Puckrein
was graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University where he received his
doctorate. Dr. Puckrein was publisher of American Visions and Minority Health
Today. Dr. Puckrein also serves as the Executive Director of the Alliance of
Minority Medical Associations, a collaborative effort of the Asian and Pacific
Physicians' Association, the Association of American Indian Physicians, and the
National Medical Association.
GRETCHEN C. WARTMAN
Vice President
Policy and Program
Ms. Wartman has over 30 years of experience in health policy analysis,
strategic planning, and program design and administration. She has held
key positions in both the public and private sectors, including the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, the Missouri Department of Health,
the Comprehensive Health Planning Council of Southeastern Michigan,
the Greater Detroit Area Health Council, and the City of Detroit Department
of Health. She served as the Missouri Title V director and has administered
divisions with budgets of $200 million and 300 employees. Her experience in
testifying before the Missouri General Assembly, and in drafting budget
proposals and legislation addressing critical health issues such as family
planning, and other nutrition issues have afforded her a solid foundation of
knowledge and experience that informs her performance in this leadership position.
WILLIAM A. GRIFFITH
Vice President
Client Services
Mr. Griffith has over twenty-five years experience in the healthcare
industry. Mr. Griffith began his career as a research scientist supervising
vaccine research and development at Wyeth-Ayerst. He was awarded a patent for
improving antigen yields in the development of an acellular pertussis vaccine.
Prior to assuming his current responsibilities as Vice President of Client
Services, he worked for several major medical communications agencies as a
senior account manager -- providing strategic and tactical leadership for many
prescription and over-the-counter brands.
ROGER W. MORRELL, PHD
Vice President
Technology and Health Care
Dr. Morrell has over twenty years of experience in the fields of
cognitive aging and online health information delivery. Dr. Morrell’s work
as a research scientist and/or adjunct faculty has included positions at the
University of Georgia, the University of Michigan; and currently at Johns
Hopkins University. His early AARP Andrus Foundation and NIH-funded research
focused on constructing training methods for teaching older adults how to use
information technology. His later work evolved into the development of the
national elder guidelines for accessible online information through the National
Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine. Dr. Morrell has
also served as a private consultant on projects for The National Cancer
Institute, the Deployment Health Clinical Center – Walter Reed Hospital,
and HRSA.
CAROLE J. DeSPAIN MAGOFFIN, MSW
Vice President for Quality
Ms. Magoffin is a 25 year veteran health policy leader who has led
some of the nation’s most innovative applied health services research
and quality improvement programs. She has worked in hospital and integrated
delivery settings, led innovative community-based quality improvement programs,
organized and led statewide business health coalitions and national employer
and labor health initiatives, conducted pioneering quasi-experimental research
on population-based medical practice variations, and evaluated performance
measure translation from some of the nation’s first evidence-based clinical
practice guidelines. Magoffin was founding Executive Director of the national
Center for Clinical Quality Evaluation (CCQE) for eleven years (formerly
the American Medical Review Research Center, AMRRC), where she brought
together quality of care evaluation pioneers, for the first time, to
collaborate on quality of care research, national educational symposia
and training programs. Previously with the non-profit research National
Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) Magoffin developed and managed patient drug
safety and strategic quality improvement grants and initiatives evaluating
computerized physician order entry programs (CPOE) and creating new medication
management measures. Ms. Magoffin was named by Health Week as one of 25
leading US health outcomes research innovators and Who’s Who in American Women.