Biography

Dana Hughes is Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and serves as the Director of Health Policy Curriculum in the School of Medicine. Dana both teaches (health policy, public health in medicine and social & behavioral sciences) and conducts research and evaluations. Her current research focus includes: access to health and dental care among low income children, families, the disabled, and other underserved populations; analyses of systems, organizations and organizational behavior; and, evaluations of programs addressing social and economic inequalities that contribute to health disparities. Dana is President of the East Bay Agency for Children (EBAC) in Oakland California, which provides medical and behavioral health care, family support and other services essential for optimal health, wellness and academic achievement, to over 20,000 children each year. She also serves on the board of Oakland Potluck, which has been linking unused food with people in need for nearly 30 years. Dana is also on the Advisory Council to The Children's Advocate, a quarterly newspaper covering children and family issues in the San Francisco Bay Area and serves on the Women's Board of the Oakland Museum of California. Prior to joining UCSF, Dana worked in Washington, D.C. in Congress for Congressman Ronald V. Dellums and Congressman Louis Stokes. She also worked for five years (1985-1989) at the Children's Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. where she consulted with Medicaid agencies, state legislatures and other policy makers for the enactment of Medicaid expansions to low income pregnant women and children. From 1983-1985 she directed a consortium of community health centers in New York City. Between 1995 and 1998, Dana was a Fellow with the Kellogg National Fellowship Program. She earned a doctorate in public health (DrPH) at the University of California at Berkeley (1995). In addition, she has a Masters Degree in public health and a Masters Degree in urban planning from Columbia University (1983).