The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today named the 2026-2027 class of RWJF Health Policy Fellows. Beginning in September, eight health professionals will spend a year in Washington, D.C., immersing themselves in health policy, before serving in placements as senior advisers to elected or appointed federal government leaders in the legislative or executive branches.
The fellows were chosen in a national competition for highly accomplished health and health care leaders who have an interest in health policy. The fellowship offers mid-career health and health care professionals with deep subject-matter expertise an opportunity to help shape health policy at the highest levels of government. After their fellowship year, the fellows will join a network of over 300 alumni and continue to receive support to sustain their professional development as health policy leaders.
“At a time when health challenges are increasingly complex, this cohort brings the insight and real-world experience needed to drive meaningful and pragmatic policy solutions,” said Gregg Margolis, director of the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program at the NAM. “They will play an important role in strengthening how decisions are made in Washington that impact the whole country. We look forward to supporting their work in the year ahead.”
“The RWJF Health Policy Fellows program has spent more than 50 years placing promising leaders in congressional offices and federal agencies, giving them hands-on experience at the nexus of health, science, and policy,” said Katherine Hempstead, senior policy officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “These fellows bring deep expertise and an unwavering commitment to health equity to our nation’s capital, and we’re excited to see how the 2026-2027 class will help advance RWJF’s vision of a future where health is a right, not a privilege.”
The new fellows are:
- Akshar Abbott, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., medical officer, Veterans Health Administration, VISN 23 Clinical Resource Hub, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Arlington, Va.
- Susan Culican, M.D., Ph.D., senior associate dean of Graduate Medical Education, designated institutional official, and professor of ophthalmology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis
- Lauren S. Hughes, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc., M.H.C.D.S., state policy director, Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Health Policy Center, University of Colorado Anschutz; and professor of family medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora
- Virginia LeBaron, Ph.D., APRN, FAAN, Kluge-Schakat Associate Professor of Compassionate Care, University of Virginia School of Nursing, Charlottesville
- Hui Shao, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta
- Denise Smith, Ph.D., CNM, associate professor, Center for Midwifery, University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing, Aurora
- Renuka Tipirneni, M.D., M.Sc., associate professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Medical School, Department of Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, and Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- Lori Uscher-Pines, Ph.D., M.Sc., distinguished senior research scientist, School of Public Health, Brown University; and professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School, Arlington, Va.
The RWJF Health Policy Fellows program in Washington, D.C., is the nation’s most comprehensive mid-career learning experience. Since 1973, this nonpartisan fellowship has provided mid-career health and health care leaders with direct, hands-on policy experience in influential congressional and executive branch offices and committees in the nation’s capital. Over 300 fellows from across the nation have worked hand in hand with the brightest minds in federal health policy to gain an insider’s perspective of the political process, develop unmatched leadership skills, and build a professional network that lasts a lifetime. As chancellors and deans at major academic institutions; presidents of professional societies and voluntary health organizations; leaders in local, state, and federal government; and experts at think tanks and advocacy groups, fellowship alumni transform the nation’s health policy and practice. For more information, visit www.healthpolicyfellows.org.
RWJF is a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime. To get there, we must work to dismantle structural racism and other barriers to health. Through funding, convening, advocacy, and evidence-building, we work side by side with communities, practitioners, and institutions to achieve health equity faster and pave the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.
The National Academy of Medicine, established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields including health and medicine; the natural, social, and behavioral sciences; and beyond. It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as an adviser to the nation and the international community. Through its domestic and global initiatives, the NAM works to address critical issues in health, medicine, and related policy and inspire positive action across sectors. The NAM collaborates closely with its peer academies and other divisions within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
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