Jessie C. Gruman, Ph.D., was the founding executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Health, a Washington-based policy institute devoted to the translation of health research into effective policy and practice. The Center works specifically to ensure that evidence on social, behavioral, and economic factors is applied to the prevention, management and treatment of disease. Gruman has worked on this same set of concerns in the private sector (AT&T), the public sector (National Institutes of Health) and the voluntary health sector (American Cancer Society). Gruman’s reseach focuses on the questions: How do we understand the risks for disease and of treatment? How can behavioral and social science research can help us respond to our illnesses and act to prevent disease in the first place?

She received her undergraduate degree from Vassar College and her PhD from Columbia University. She serves on the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and on the Board of Directors of the National Health Council. Gruman draws upon personal experience in her research and work: she has been diagnosed with three different types of cancer and a life-threatening heart condition. At 53 she turned her history into a guidebook for people facing serious medical conditions, AfterShock.

She passed away in July 2014.