Colloquium in Healthcare Leadership: Thursday Evening Series

Howard P. Forman, MD, MBA, is a Professor of Diagnostic Radiology (and faculty director for Finance),  Public Health (Health Policy), Economics and Management. Professor Forman directs the Health Care management program in the Yale School of Public Health and teaches healthcare economics in the Yale College Economics Department. He is the faculty founder and director of the MD/MBA program as well as the faculty director of the healthcare focus area in the School of Management’s MBA for Executives program. He is the co-founder and special advisor to the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership program. He co-hosts the Health & Veritas podcast with Dr. Harlan Krumholz.

As a practicing emergency/trauma radiologist, he is actively involved in patient care and issues related to financial administration, healthcare compliance, and contracting. His research has been focused on improving imaging services delivery through better access to information. He has worked as a health policy fellow in the U.S. Senate, on Medicare legislation.

During the COVID Pandemic, Professor Forman has actively tracked outbreaks at local, national, and international levels; expounding on mitigation strategies and engaging to dispel misinformation through social and print media. He has been a frequent guest commentator and expert on national video and audio platforms.

Dr. Mandy Cohen was the 20th Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is currently a national advisor at Manatt Health. Dr. Cohen is lauded for her masterful leadership in times of crisis, her skillful executive management of large, complex health organizations and her strategic and authentic communication with the public. Prior to leading the CDC, Dr. Cohen was Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services where she led the state through the COVID crisis and transformation of the North Carolina Medicaid program. She was also Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the Obama Administration. 

Dr. Cohen was included on the TIMES 100 Health list as a Titan in Health, awarded Tar Heel of the Year by the News and Observer and named one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare. Dr. Cohen received her medical degree from the Yale School of Medicine; master’s in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and trained in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. She resides in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband, Sam and two daughters, ages 11 and 13.

Alex Urry currently serves as Senior Policy Advisor to Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), where he oversees the Leader’s health care, agriculture, nutrition, and budget portfolios. Prior to this role, he worked for Speaker Nancy Pelosi for nearly 4 years as an advisor on policy related to health, veterans, and nutrition. He has directly negotiated components of and contributed to the following legislative initiatives: Fiscal Responsibility Act, Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Act, Honoring Our PACT Act, Build Back Better, American Rescue Plan, the FY21, FY22, FY23, FY24 and FY25 Appropriations Bills, CARES Act, Keeping Kids Fed Act and No Surprises Act. He is a former Winston Fellow and Scholar. He also holds an MPH in Health Care Management from the Yale School of Public Health and a BA in Biochemistry from Occidental College.

Joseph R. Betancourt, M.D., M.P.H., is the president of the Commonwealth Fund. A national leader in health care policy, equity, quality, and community health, Betancourt formerly served as the senior vice president for Equity and Community Health at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and as founding director of the Disparities Solutions Center. He has devoted his career to improving the quality and value of health care for diverse populations. 

Betancourt has served on committees that have provided advice to all agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, among others. He has also provided guidance to private industry, and at the state and local level, including a term on the Boston Board of Health. 

His roles in governance have included serving on the Board of Trinity Health, Neighborhood Health Plan, and the Massachusetts Health and Hospitals Association. Betancourt is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a board-certified internist, providing primary care to a large Spanish-speaking and minority patient panel. He earned his M.D. from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and completed an internal medicine residency at New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center. Following his residency, he was a member of one of the first classes in the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University, where he earned an M.P.H. in health policy and management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

An author of nearly 90 peer-reviewed articles, Betancourt has served on several Institute of Medicine committees, including the committee that produced the seminal report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. 

Betancourt is an Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow and recipient of the Sumner M. Redstone Endowed Chair in Health Equity at MGH. In 2023, he was named one of Modern Healthcare’s “Top 50 Clinical Healthcare Executives in the United States” and in 2024 named one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in Health Care.” He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Benjamin R. Elkins is the Director for Quality & Performance Improvement at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health (SMCH) where he leads functions that support efforts both to improve healthcare quality and to develop improvement capability throughout the organization. His teams also facilitate tasks such as the annual goal setting process, organizational learning from serious adverse patient events, and organization-wide surveys by accreditation and regulatory entities, such as The Joint Commission and CMS. 

Prior to SMCH, Ben worked on the Performance Improvement team at Stanford Health Care (SHC), which is the adult healthcare delivery system within Stanford Medicine. His work took him throughout the health system, including deployments with the General Medicine inpatient service, the Stanford Cancer Center, and the Cardiovascular Health service line. Ben assumed progressively greater responsibilities over time, including overall leadership of the team as well as administration of several Stanford Medicine improvement capability development programs. 

Ben holds a BA in Ethics, Politics, and Economics as well as an MPH in Health Management, both from Yale University. He lives in Sunnyvale, California (Bay Area) with his wife and two children, ages 5 and 7.

A practicing cardiologist, Garth Graham is the Director and Global Head of Healthcare and Public Health at Google Health/YouTube. He previously served in two US administrations as US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, and was Assistant Dean for Health Policy and Chief of Health Services Research in the Department of Medicine at the University of Florida School of Medicine. He also served as President of the Aetna Foundation as well as Vice President & Chief Community Health Officer at CVS Health. He currently sits on several boards, including the Advisory Council to the Director of the NIH, the National Academy of Medicine Board on Health Policy, and the board of the National Quality Forum. He previously served on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Advisory Council.

An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Garth obtained his MD at Yale University School of Medicine, MPH at Yale School of Public Health, Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. He holds three board certifications including internal medicine, cardiology and interventional cardiology. He also holds an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Regis College and an honorary degree from the Eastern Virginia Medical School. In 2021, the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine inaugurated the Garth N. Graham Distinguished Lectureship Award, which spotlights trail blazers who are leading the creation and advancement of health equity.

Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet is a recognized leader in global health and health equity. Currently, she serves as the President and CEO of Vital Strategies where she leads a team of over 400 individuals working in 80+ countries to ensure that everyone, everywhere, is protected by equitable and effective public health systems. Today, more than 3.3 billion people worldwide are covered by public health policies that Vital Strategies helped achieve. Previously, Dr. Etiebet directed Merck for Mothers, a $650 million global health initiative, that expanded access to quality maternal healthcare for more than 50 million women across 70 countries. Later, as Merck’s Associate Vice President for Health Equity, she led the development of the company’s health equity strategy and advanced partnerships to improve healthcare access for underserved communities. Dr. Etiebet’s career began in academia and public health in infectious disease, including her work with HIV/AIDS programs in Nigeria, impacting over 70,000 people. A Yale-trained M.D. and MBA, she actively serves on the boards of Save the Children, the Center for Global Development, in addition to her advisory roles with major global health organizations.

Kurt C. Small serves as President, Medicaid at Elevance Health. He is responsible for the strategic direction and overall performance of the company’s Medicaid business.

Small has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry applying in-depth government and commercial strategy, operations, and management experience.

Most recently, Small led Elevance Health’s Commercial East Region and previously served as Chief Operating Officer for the company’s Government Health Benefits division. Prior to joining Elevance Health, Small was president of government markets for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. He also held executive leadership positions with Aetna and Highmark Inc.

As a lifelong learner, Small is passionate about solving complex problems and utilizing knowledge as a catalyst to improve our nation’s health and wellness.

Small serves on the Executive Committee of the Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA) Board of Directors and also serves as the board chair for Greater Maryland American Heart Association.

Pamela Sutton-Wallace, MPH, is an accomplished health care executive with nearly 30 years of experience in various sectors of the health care industry, most notably working in academic medical centers driving operations and strategic growth. In February 2024, Pam was named President for Yale New Haven Health after serving two years as Chief Operating Officer for the health system. At $7.1 billion in revenue, Yale New Haven Health is Connecticut’s leading health system with more than 30,000 team members, 7,500 physicians, 250 ambulatory locations and over 2,600 inpatient beds. Prior to joining Yale New Haven Health, Pam served as Group Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at New York-Presbyterian (NYP) for the Weill Cornell Division providing strategic and operational oversight for the Weill Cornell, Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens campuses as well as NYP Medical Group (2019-2022). Before her tenure at NYP, Pam was Chief Executive Officer for the University of Virginia (UVA) Medical Center (2014-2019) and Interim Executive Vice President for Health Affairs (2019) in Charlottesville, Virginia. Pam also worked at Duke University Health System in Durham North Carolina for 17 years in various leadership capacities including: Senior Vice President for Hospital Operations, Chief Operating Officer for Ambulatory Services, Vice President for Perioperative Services and Chief of Staff to the Chancellor for Health Affairs. Pam has also held positions in the pharmaceutical and insurance industries at Pfizer and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina, respectively.

She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and African-American Studies from Washington University in St. Louis and graduated from Yale University School of Public Health with a Master of Public Health (MPH), completing her thesis with distinction.

Pam serves on several professional and community boards including the American Hospital Association (AHA) Board of Trustees, AHA Operations Committee, Connecticut Hospital Association Board and Executive Committee, Carol Emmott Foundation and United Way of Greater New Haven to name a few. Additionally, Pam serves as corporate director, ESG Committee Chair and Audit Committee member of the publicly traded company, Consensus Cloud Solutions Inc. (CCSI), a technology firm driving interoperability and communication solutions.

Pam has received several national accolades and especially enjoys speaking to a wide array of audiences as well as mentoring and encouraging the next generation of health care leaders.

Dr. Rebekah Gee is the visionary CEO/Founder of Nest Health and an Obstetrician/Gynecologist. Nest Health is the first value-based healthcare provider built for whole families. Through an innovative care model, Nest addresses generational drivers of poor health by providing primary, behavioral, and social care through house calls, virtual visits, and wraparound services. Nest partners with managed care plans to care for families with high or rising risk, chronic conditions, and a lack of attachment to primary care. Nest has been recognized as one of the leading tech-enabled companies in the Medicaid space and has been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, Axios, Fierce Healthcare, by Fast Company as one of 2025's Most Innovative Companies in healthcare and World-Changing Ideas, and its founders were named to 2025 Inc's Female Founder 500.

Dr. Gee previously served as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health where she oversaw half the state budget and the implementation of Medicaid expansion. Gee developed the first in the nation elimination campaign for hepatitis C and continues to be a thought leader in helping to spread the Netflix drug subscription model nationally. As Secretary, Gee led national discussions on maternal mortality and established one of the first state run perinatal quality collaboratives focusing on maternal mortality. As a result, Louisiana saw a 32% drop in the severe health consequences of maternal hemorrhage - the leading preventable cause of maternal death in Louisiana. Dr. Gee implemented an aggressive statewide opioid response plan and dashboard, and a Secretary’s standing order for Naloxone, used by thousands of Louisianans. She successfully worked cross sector, founding the Taking Aim Against Cancer in Louisiana initiative, bringing payers, providers, and patients together to align on interventions that have improved cancer screening and outcomes.

Gee has an extensive background in quality improvement, has served on the boards of the National Quality Forum and NCQA and currently serves on the board of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Before her time as Secretary, Gee served as the Medicaid Medical Director for Louisiana Medicaid, the Medical Director for Title V, and directed Louisiana’s Birth Outcomes Initiative where she led the charge to decrease infant mortality and prematurity. Her initiative resulted in a 25% reduction in infant mortality, an 85% drop in elective deliveries before 39 weeks, and a 10% drop in NICU admissions statewide. Gee is a policy thought leader, has published extensively on policy issues and served as an advisor to two presidential campaigns.

In 2017, Gee's exceptional contributions led to her election to the esteemed National Academy of Medicine. Gee has been recognized by the New York Times as one of Five Who Spread Hope worldwide in 2019, by Modern Healthcare as one of the Women Leaders to Watch in Healthcare, by New Orleans City Business as an influential leader in the Power 50, and by Inc to the Female Founder 500 in 2025. Dr. Gee currently serves on the medical advisory board for 3D systems and has previously served in a similar role for SelectQuote. Gee is the parent of five energetic children and lives in New Orleans with her husband David Patron, head of commercial litigation at Phelps Dunbar.

Evan Sussman is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Granata Bio, a women’s-health biotechnology company developing a next-generation portfolio of fertility therapeutics. He leads the company’s strategy, partnerships, and capital formation while building a culture that attracts top scientific, regulatory, and operational talent dedicated to solving critical gaps in reproductive medicine. 

At Granata Bio, Evan has advanced a diversified pipeline—including recombinant and urinary gonadotropins, clomiphene citrate, and ovarian-biology programs such as OVI-586—and established collaborations with global industry partners and leading academic centers. His focus is on building a high-performance organization capable of delivering meaningful innovation, stronger competition, and broader access to IVF.

Before co-founding Granata Bio, Evan held leadership roles at EMD Serono, where he led Fertility Marketing and the Fertility Technologies Business Unit. Earlier in his career, he held commercial roles at United Therapeutics, CV Therapeutics, and Eli Lilly, experiences that shaped his approach to building high-performing teams and bringing new products to market.

Evan holds an MBA in Healthcare from the Yale School of Management and a BA in Organizational Behavior from Brown University. He is recognized for forging strong partnerships, navigating complex regulatory and commercial environments, and advancing a mission-driven vision for women’s health.

Andrea Barton Reeves is the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Social Services. With over twenty years of experience in Human Services and advocacy, she has dedicated her career to ensuring equity, dignity and accessibility to marginalized communities throughout the state. 

An attorney by training, Andrea spent ten years as an Attorney for the minor child and a guardian ad litem, advocating for and protecting the rights of children in family, probate and child welfare courts across Connecticut. She also served as the CEO of Harc, Inc. in Hartford, supporting people with intellectual disabilities and their families. 

In 2020, she became the founding CEO Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program. 

She has been named one of the Power 25 in Healthcare and the Top 25 Leaders In Business by the Hartford Business Journal, as well as appearing twice on that publication’s list of New Leaders to Watch. She has also been twice named to the CT NAACP’s list of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut, and was recognized as 100 Women of Color in the New England region.

Andrea is also a TedX speaker, with a talk entitled “Social Justice in a gymsuit.” 

She holds a BA in English from Rutgers University, a JD from New York Law School, and is completing a Master of Arts in Religion with a focus on poverty alleviation at Yale Divinity School, where she is a Social Justice Scholar.