Brian D. Smedley, Ph. D., is vice president and director of the Health Policy Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. He oversees all operations of the institute, which explores disparities in health and makes recommendations on how to resolve these concerns. Mr. Smedley was formerly the research director and co-founder for The Opportunity Agenda, a communication, research and advocacy organization. He also previously served as a senior program officer in the Division of Health Sciences Policy of the Institute of Medicine, where he was study director for Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care and three other reports. Before that, he was director for public interest policy for the American Psychological Association. He has been a Congressional Science Fellow in the office of Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-VA), and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Educational Testing Service. Among his awards and distinctions: the National Academy of Sciences' Individual Staff Award for Distinguished Service in 2003 and 2000; the Congressional Black Caucus "Healthcare Hero" award in April 2002, and the Early Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest from the American Psychological Association in 2002.