Michael Diamond
World Resources Chicago
Michael Diamond is the President of World Resources Chicago, a consulting firm in Chicago which helps businesses and organizations respond to global challenges and opportunities. He is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and DePaul University. Previously, he was the Executive Director of The Global Chicago Center of The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.
For more than 25 years, Michael worked with refugee, rehabilitation and social and economic development programs around the world. For ten years he managed PolioPlus, Rotary’s global program to eradicate polio, and the Humanitarian Programs for The Rotary Foundation. He also worked with the international YMCA and lived in Bangladesh and Switzerland. Through his humanitarian work he was visited 45 countries and has worked with people in over 150 countries.
He received his M.A. in Medical/Social Anthropology from the New School for Social Research in New York.
Dr. Eric A. Finkelstein
RTI International
Eric Finkelstein, PhD, is a health economist in RTI's Public Health Economics Program. Prior to joining RTI, he was an Agency for Health Care Policy and Research fellow and research scientist with the University of Washington's Department of Family Medicine. At RTI, Dr. Finkelstein focuses on the economic causes and consequences of health behaviors, with a primary emphasis on behaviors related to obesity. He has published several peer-reviewed papers on this subject. One paper, "National Medical Expenditures Attributable to Overweight and Obesity," appeared in Health Affairs and garnered national media attention. A follow-up paper, published in Obesity Research, quantifies the costs of obesity at the state level. Currently, Dr. Finkelstein is co-principal investigator and associate director for the RTI/UNC Center of Excellence in Health Promotion Economics. He leads several projects concerning the causes and consequences of obesity and evaluates several obesity prevention programs for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies.
He received his M.H.A., Ph.D. in Economics, and M.A. in Economics from the University of Washington.
Dr. James M. Galloway
Assistant Surgeon General
Rear Admiral, United States Public Health Service
Regional Health Administrator
Region V, Chicago, Illinois
Dr. Galloway was appointed to the position of Regional Health Administrator in March, 2007 by the Assistant Secretary of Health (ASH) and is the lead federal physician, the principal federal public health official and the senior USPHS officer for Region V, which encompasses the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. As the Regional Health Administrator, Dr. Galloway's leadership responsibilities include disease prevention, health promotion, women's and minority health, the reduction of health disparities, the fight against HIV/AIDS, the Medical Reserve Corps, pandemic influenza and emergency planning. He is actively involved in the push for enhanced access to quality health care. Dr. Galloway is now an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Northwestern College of Medicine.
Prior to coming to Chicago, as Director of the Native American Cardiology Program, Dr. Galloway organized and provided direct cardiac care to Native Americans in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, California and New Mexico. He was the senior cardiologist nationally for the Indian Health Service and the director of the National Native American CVD Prevention Program.
Dr. Galloway received his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia and completed his residency at the University of Vermont. Following residency he served as an internist and consultant at the Keams Canyon Hospital on the Hopi Indian Reservation. He then served as the medical director and chief of staff at the Whiteriver PHS Hospital on the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation and as a special assistant to the Phoenix area IHS Director at San Carlos Apache PHS Hospital.
Dr. Katherine Kaufer Christoffel
Children's Memorial Research Center
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Dr. Christoffel is a professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine, and the director of the Community-Engaged Research Center of the NUCATS Institute. Dr. Christoffel is also deputy director of the Feinberg School of Medicine’s Programs in Public Health, in the Department of Preventive Medicine. In addition to her teaching commitments, Dr. Christoffel serves as the director for the Center on Obesity Management and Prevention (COMP) and is a member of the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) at the Children’s Memorial Hospital and Research Center in Chicago. She is also an attending pediatrician at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Dr. Christoffel’s career has included research based in primary care practices, schools, and community-based organizations. She has documented cholesterol screening guideline effects in primary care practice, intentional and unintentional injury patterns in the U.S. and Chicago, and clarified family-level risk factors for pedestrian injury. Her current work examines clinical, family, and community-level obesity correlates in community samples. Dr. Christoffel has also established innovative and enduring clinical, research, and advocacy programs including the Children’s Memorial Hospital (CMH) Nutrition Evaluation Clinic, the Pediatric Practice Research Group, and several programs that grew into the endowed Smith Child Health Research Program at the Children’s Memorial Research Center (CMRC). As deputy director of Feinberg School's Programs in Public Health, she oversees community and international education for the Feinberg School's Public Health students. She has been principal investigator on federal grants from NICHD, MCHB, AHRQ, and on many innovation projects funded by philanthropy. Dr. Christoffel has mentored fellows and junior faculty who became independent researchers in areas ranging from child development to injury prevention and practice-based research.
After graduating from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, she took post-graduate training at Columbus Children's Hospital and Children's Memorial Hospital where she is currently an attending physician, in addition to her research and teaching responsibilities.
Robert Herskovitz
Deputy Regional Health Administrator, U.S. Public Health Service
Robert Herskovitz is the Deputy Regional Health Administrator for the Region V's Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS). Prior to reporting to OPHS, he served in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as the manager for the Program Integrity unit, and former special assistant to the Regional Administrator. He has been awarded with several Secretary of Health and Human Services Awards for Distinguished Service and the Inspector General's Program Integrity Award.
Bob is also an adjunct Professor at Governors State University, where he lectures on criminal justice and public policy. He was recently recognized in Who's Who Among American Teachers for excellence in teaching.
Prior to joining the Medicare program, Bob served in the U.S. Navy for over 20 years, with a variety of assignments. He was awarded a number of Navy Commendation Medals and Navy Achievement Awards.
Bob has a Juris Doctor from Thomas Jefferson Law School in San Diego. He and his wife Janis reside in Glencoe, Illinois. He is an avid runner, and weekly commutes to work by running 20 miles along Chicago's Northshore.
Ted Theophilos
Founder and CEO, EngagmentHealth LLC
Ted Theophilos is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of EngagementHealthTM. Ted has held executive level positions with some of the most respected public companies in the United States, including RR Donnelley & Sons Company, E*Trade Financial Group, Palm, Inc., True North Communications/Foote Cone & Belding and The A.C. Nielsen Company. In these corporate roles he has been responsible for various administrative and business functions. Ted began his professional career at the international law firm Sidley & Austin where he became a partner and practiced for more than 16 years. Ted is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.