Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Names Beal Chief Operating Officer

Recognized Expert in Care Quality Joins PCORI Leadership Team

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2011  The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) announced today the appointment of Dr. Anne C. Beal, M.D., M.P.H., as its first chief operating officer. PCORI was created by Congress as an independent, non-profit research organization to help patients and those who care for them make informed health decisions.  Beal will be responsible for ensuring PCORI has the structure and capacity needed to carry out its mission as the nation's largest research institute focused on patient-centered outcomes research.

"Dr. Beal has dedicated her career to improving health and the quality of health care in America," said Dr. Joe Selby, M.D., M.P.H., executive director of PCORI. "Her experience and accomplishments in grant-making, health policy, health services research and addressing health disparities are an excellent fit with PCORI's mission.  I look forward with excitement to working with Anne in building PCORI's research capacity and effectively engaging patients, caregivers and the broader health care community throughout our work."

Beal is a pediatrician and public health specialist, who has been committed throughout her career to research and the use of research to improve health care delivery, particularly for society's most vulnerable.  As a recognized authority in health disparities, quality of care, and children's health, Beal has published numerous peer-reviewed papers and articles, as well as a book titled, "The Black Parenting Book: Caring for Our Children in the First Five Years."

She joins PCORI from the Aetna Foundation, the independent charitable and philanthropic arm of Aetna Inc.  As President, she led the Foundation's transformation from a model of traditional local corporate philanthropy to a national strategic grant-maker with a goal of making significant, sustained improvements in health and health care across the US.  Under her leadership, the foundation targeted three key areas in health and health care: obesity, racial/ethnic equity in care, and promotion of coordinated care and integrated health care systems.  In this role, Beal was responsible for strategic planning, operations, communications, financial affairs, staff growth and development, and directions for the grants programs.

"My life's work has focused on providing patients with high-quality care through improved health care services and delivery systems," Beal said. "PCORI is a central part of our nation's research effort to improve the information that is available to patients and those who care for them. I am excited about the opportunity to help shape the development of an organization with such an important mission."

As PCORI's chief operating officer, Beal will be responsible for all aspects of PCORI's finance and administration, including human resources, grants oversight, compliance, facilities, budgeting, and information technology. Her background in research and clinical care also will be valuable assets for PCORI's core programmatic work on patient-centered outcomes research.

Prior to her position as president of the Aetna Foundation, Beal was assistant vice president for the program on health care disparities at the Commonwealth Fund. Previously, she was a health services researcher at the Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has held faculty positions within both Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. Beal holds a B.A. from Brown University, an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, and an M.P.H. from Columbia University. She completed her internship, residency, and National Research Service Award fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

SOURCE Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute