The Advisory Board provides the Department with multi-sector and interdisciplinary expertise to help us achieve our goal of improving the health and wellness of residents in central and southern Illinois. Linda Reneé Baker, PhD Cheryl Austein Casnoff, MPH Wayne Giles, MD, MS Eric Hargan, JD Alana Knudson, PhD Paul Kuehnert, DNP, RN, FAAN Bryan Samuels, MPP Madhu Viswanathan, PhD John Whittington, MD

Paul Bloom is Vice President, Process and Chemical Research, at Archer Daniels Midland Company. In that role, he leads research efforts in process development and chemical research to help ADM develop technologies that will improve the company’s cost position and drive new product opportunities. He also works with ADM’s commercial and production teams to move technologies from the laboratory to deployment. Bloom joined ADM in 2001 as a research scientist and, in 2007, was named director, Chemical Technology Strategy; during his time at ADM, he has authored more than 20 patents. He also played

Linda Reneé Baker joined the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute on March 18, 2003, after stepping down as the secretary of Illinois Department of Human Services, a post she held for three years. Her focus at the institute is to expand access to high-quality health care in partnership with the SIU School of Medicine and helping minorities and people with disabilities realize their full potential. She also teaches a course on leadership for SIU Carbondale. During her career in public service, Baker held increasingly responsible positions in a variety of state agencies. As secretary of the

Wayne H. Giles is Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to joining UIC in September of 2017, he was the Director of the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He also led the Division of Population Health at CDC, one of CDC’s most diverse divisions with programmatic and research activities in community health promotion, arthritis, aging, health care utilization, and racial and ethnic disparities in health. His

Patrick Gallagher is the Senior Vice President, Health Policy and Finance at the Illinois Health and Hospital Association. Patrick’s department is responsible for assisting members with a wide range of hospital payment and regulatory issues including Medicare and Medicaid payment, health insurance regulations, hospital charity care and tax exemption issues and state and federal regulatory related challenges. Patrick coordinates IHA efforts to assist members to prepare and participate in value based health care delivery and payment programs. He is also directly involved in the review and

Audrey Soglin is the Executive Director of the Illinois Education Association (IEA). She taught in Evanston, Illinois for 25 years. Ms. Soglin started her career teaching self contained special education students and after eight years, moved to regular education where she taught kindergarten, first, second, fourth and fifth grades. Prior to becoming the Executive Director of the Illinois Education Association, Audrey was the Director of the Center for Education Innovation for IEA and the Executive Director of the Consortium for Educational Change. As Executive Director of the IEA, Ms. Soglin

Bryan Samuels is the Executive Director of Chapin Hall, one of the nation’s leading research and policy centers focused on improving the well-being of children and youth, families and their communities. He has spent his career building the capacity of child-serving systems to produce positive outcomes for children, integrating empirical evidence into public policy and service delivery, streamlining management and operations in government and non-profit agencies, and emphasizing the emergence of a cutting-edge body of scholarship in neuroscience and its potential for innovative contributions to

Mike Lawrence retired Nov. 1, 2008, as director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University. He joined the institute as associate director in 1997 and became director after the death of Paul Simon in December 2003. In addition to serving as director, he taught classes in both the political science and journalism departments. Prior to joining SIU, Lawrence was press secretary and senior policy adviser to Governor Jim Edgar for nearly a decade. He joined Edgar's staff after working as a journalist for 25 years. During his newspaper career, he specialized in Illinois

Family physicians in 10 Illinois communities are hosting students from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine October 29–November 23. The students are participating in the school’s Family Medicine Preceptorship Program. [Editor: See the list below for the student or physician from your community.] The experience provides an opportunity for students to use their medical knowledge in an office setting under the supervision of an experienced physician. The students choose from more than 160 family practice physicians in Illinois for their preceptorship experience. They will graduate from

Family physicians in 10 Illinois communities are hosting students from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine October 29–November 23. The students are participating in the school’s Family Medicine Preceptorship Program. [Editor: See the list below for the student or physician from your community.] The experience provides an opportunity for students to use their medical knowledge in an office setting under the supervision of an experienced physician. The students choose from more than 160 family practice physicians in Illinois for their preceptorship experience. They will graduate from