Scientific Advisory Committee

In 2002, United Health Foundation, in concert with the American Public Health Association (APHA) and Partnership for Prevention, commissioned the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to undertake an ongoing review of America's Health Rankings®. The Scientific Advisory Committee was charged with recommending improvements that would maintain the value of the comparative, longitudinal information; reflect the evolving role and science of public health; utilize new or improved measures of health as they become available and acceptable; and incorporate new methods as feasible. Minor issues with data are always addressed immediately and incorporated into the contents of the next edition of the report. However, more significant issues, such as new measurements of health conditions, require more in-depth study and analysis.

The Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Anna Schenck, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., continues its review, and its input is reflected in this edition. The Committee emphasizes the importance of this tool as a vehicle to promote and improve the general discussion of public health and, also, to encourage balance among public health efforts to benefit the entire community.

This edition includes several suggestions discussed by the committee including:

• Inclusion of diabetes as an outcome and an indicator of the impact chronic disease has upon the health of our country
• Revision of the definition of the infectious disease measure; Infectious disease is now defined as the incidence of measles, pertussis, syphilis and hepatitis A. These four diseases reflect three major transmission routes (contact, sexual and food) and are amenable to sound and extensive public health interventions. The prior definition of infectious disease (incidence of AIDS, hepatitis A and B and tuberculosis) was no longer felt to truly represent the challenges faced in managing infectious disease.

In addition, the committee continues to work on issues concerning improved environmental health indicators, quality and availability of healthy foods, exercise and activity, methods of expressing variability within the rankings, oral health indicators, mental health indicators, improved health disparity measures, improved cost measures, quality of care measures and international benchmarking. (Some of these measures are included in the expanded detail of each state's health profile at www.americashealthrankings.org/ALL but are not included in calculating the overall state rank.)

The committee also stresses the importance of focusing on determinants, as improving these measures can improve the healthiness of each state and the nation. The overall ranks for combined determinants as well as outcomes are presented in each state snapshot.

The methodology review group represents a variety of stakeholders, including representatives from state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), members of APHA, as well as experts from many academic disciplines.

Scientific Advisory Committee members include:

Anna Schenck, Ph.D., M.S.P.H.
Chair Director, Public Health Leadership Program
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dennis P. Andrulis, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Senior Research Scientist
Texas Health Institute

Jamie Bartram, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of Global Water Institute
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Andy Coburn, M.D.
Professor and Director,
Institute for Health Policy
University of Southern Maine

Leah Devlin, D.D.S., M.P.H.
Gillings Visiting Professor,
Health Policy and Management
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

William Dow, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Health Economics
School of Public Health
University of California-Berkeley

Tom Eckstein, M.B.A.
Principal
Arundel Street Consulting, Inc.

Paul Erwin, M.D., M.P.H.
Director
Center for Public Health Policy and Research
University of Tennessee

Jonathan Fielding, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., M.A.
Professor of Health Services and Pediatrics
UCLA School of Public Health
Director of Public Health and Health Officer
Los Angeles County

Marthe Gold, M.D.
Logan Professor and Chair
Department of Community Health
CUNY Medical School

Dave Kindig, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus Senior Adviser,
Population Health Institute
University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Medicine

Sheila Leatherman, M.S.W.
Research Professor and Gillings Visiting Professor
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Glen P. Mays, Ph.D., M.P.H.
F. Douglas Scutchfield Endowed Professor
Health Services and Systems Research
University of Kentucky College of Public Health

Matthew T. McKenna, M.D., M.P.H.
Medical Director
Fulton County Department of Health Services

Patrick Remington, M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Dean for Public Health
School of Medicine and Public Health
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thomas C. Ricketts, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Professor of Health Policy and Administration and Social Medicine
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Barbara Rimer, Dr.P.H.
Dean
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Leiyu Shi, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Health Policy and Management
Co-Director, Primary Care Policy Center for the Underserved
Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health

Steven Teutsch, M.D., M.P.H.
Chief Science Officer
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health