Board of Directors
Sally Pipes, Founder and Chair
Sally C. Pipes is president and chief executive officer of the Pacific Research Institute, a San Francisco-based think tank founded in 1979. In November 2010, she was named the Taube Fellow in Health Care Studies. Prior to becoming president of PRI in 1991, she was assistant director of the Fraser Institute, based in Vancouver, Canada.
Ms. Pipes is author of several recent books on health care reform including The Truth About ObamaCare and The Pipes Plan as well as the weekly health care column “Piping Up” for Forbes.com. Ms. Pipes addresses national and international audiences on health care issues and has defended free markets in debates with Paul Krugman, Princeton economics professor and New York Times columnist, Princeton Professor Uwe Reinhardt and Harvard’s Dr. David Himmelstein.
Ms. Pipes currently serves on the national advisory board of Capital Research Center, the Advisory Board of the California Association of Scholars, and the State Policy Network president’s advisory council. She has served as a trustee of St. Luke’s Hospital Foundation in San Francisco, a board member of the Independent Women’s Forum, a governor of the Donner Canadian Foundation, president of the Canadian Association for Business Economics and on the Medical Advisory Council of Genworth Financial’s Long-Term Care Insurance Division.
Recipient of numerous awards of achievement, including the State Poly Network’s 2004 Roe Award, California Women’s Leadership Association’s 3rd Annual Women Achievers’ award, and Human Events Top 10 Women in the Conservative Movement in America, Ms. Pipes is also featured in a new book Women Who Paved the Way as one of 35 most outstanding women in business in the nation. A former Canadian, she became an American citizen in 2006.
Neil B. Minkoff, MD
Neil B. Minkoff, MD is founder of FountainHead HealthCare, Chief Medical Officer of EmpiraMed, Inc. and a former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission.
He has previously served as the Medical Director for Network Medical Management and Pharmacy for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Associate Medical Director of Partners Community Healthcare, Inc., Co-Chair of Medical Management and Co-Chair of P&T for the CareGroup Provider Service Network, Medical Director for Deaconess-Waltham Hospital and Co-Chair of AHIP’s Specialty Pharmaceuticals Workgroup.
Dr. Minkoff attended Bowdoin College, received his MD from Dartmouth Medical School and trained in Internal Medicine at the Lahey Clinic. In addition to practicing internal medicine, he is an Instructor at Harvard Medical School, author and editor of multiple publications and has served on numerous Advisory Panels and Boards. Dr. Minkoff was awarded a Bronze United States Congressional Medal in 1986. In 2005, Dr. Minkoff was recognized by the Boston Business Journal as one of their “40 Under 40” leaders. He was one of the Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Future Leaders of 2007.
Jan Breslow, MD
Dr. Jan Breslow, MD is the Rockefeller University’s Frederick Henry Leonhardt Professor and a senior physician at The Rockefeller University Hospital, where he heads the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics and Metabolism.
Dr. Breslow completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center, in Boston and a three-year research fellowship at the Molecular Disease Branch of the National Heart and Lung Institute.
A pioneer in the application of recombinant DNA technology to the study of atherosclerosis, Dr. Breslow has identified many of the genes that control the transport of cholesterol and other fats through the bloodstream and into or out of body tissues. By studying the genes in greater detail, Dr. Breslow hopes to learn how to identify individuals at increased risk for atherosclerosis before the condition develops, and to design new drugs, diets, gene therapies, and other treatments or preventions.
Dr. Breslow has received many honors, including the 1984 E. Mead Johnson Award of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the 1991 Heinrich Wieland Prize from Germany in Lipid Research, the 1994 Basic Research Prize of the American Heart Association, the 1995 Pasarow Foundation Cardiovascular Research Award, the 1996 Glorney-Raisbeck Award in Cardiology from the New York Academy of Medicine, the 1999 Bugher Foundation award for Research in Cardiovascular Science, the 2000 Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cardiovascular Research, and a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 1995, the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina in 1996, and the Institute of Medicine in 1997.
Robert Hertzka, MD
Robert E. Hertzka, M.D., a practicing obstetrical anesthesiologist, serves on the Executive Committee of the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Council on Medical Service. He previously served President of the California Medical Association, and as the 2003-04 Chair of the American Medical Association’s political action committee (AMPAC).
Dr. Hertzka has been active in policy development and advocacy for a wide variety of issues, including access to health care and entitlement reform. As an example, as the CMA President in 2004, he spearheaded a task force that developed the CMA’s current proposal for the uninsured, an innovative approach that would have, as a first step, covered more than half of the nation’s uninsured within the existing framework of health care financing.
As part of his longstanding commitment to both politics and health care policy, Dr. Hertzka teaches two elective courses on health policy and politics at the UC San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. He earned his medical degree from UCSD and completed his residency and fellowship in anesthesiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Following two years on the faculty at UCSF, he has been in private practice in San Diego County with Anesthesia Service Medical Group (ASMG) since 1987, and has been a full-time attending physician at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women since 1995.
Juliette Madrigal-Dersch, MD
Juliette is board certified in pediatrics and internal medicine. She completed her bachelor of science at the University of Texas at Austin while graduating Cum Laude. She received her Doctorate of Medicine at Texas A&M and finished her residency at the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine.
Juliette currently has numerous positions including as a physician for a Solo Fee-for-Service Private Practice, the Burnett County Health Authority, and as the Medical Director for Marble Falls Fire and Rescue. She also has a volunteer position as a board member of Circus of Hope, a non-profit that teaches circus arts to at risk youth.
Juliette is an experienced speaker. On multiple occasions, she has given congressional briefings concerning free market medicine. Moreover she has spoken at the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons.
Staff
Richard W. Walker, Executive Director
With more than 25 years of experience in nonprofit management, Richard leads the strategic vision of BRI and supervises day-to-day operations and financial efforts of the organization. He has served as Chief Operating Officer at the National Center for Policy Analysis and in senior and executive management positions at Dr Pepper/7 Up, Edelman Worldwide and several legendary broadcast news outlets, including Group W Radio & TV. Richard has served as a Board Member of the Dallas-area Parkinsonism Society and was a member of the Keller (TX) ISD Board of Trustees for more than 10 years, four as president. He is an adjunct professor in accounting and economics at Tarrant County (TX) College and serves as a primary and general election judge for Tarrant County (TX). He also has served as a judge in forensics for the University (TX) Interscholastic League’s Academic Decathlon competition.
Beth Haynes, MD, Medical Officer
Previously in private practice with board certification in both Family Practice and Emergency Medicine, Dr. Beth Haynes has been working full time in healthcare policy for the past six years. She obtained her MD from the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine and her residency training at University of Wisconsin in Madison.
She also volunteers as an executive board member of the Dr. Joseph Warren Institute and is Founder and President of The Black Ribbon Project. She previously served as Senior Health Policy Analyst and Executive Board Member for Docs4PatientCare, and as National Co-Chair of Doc Squads, a project to recruit and train doctors to lead the public healthcare debate. Dr. Haynes has published several op-eds in TownHall.com, PJ Media, American Thinker and The Huffington Post. She speaks frequently to citizen and professional groups on healthcare policy, the ACA, and the ethics and economics of medicine.
Rebecca Wales Kiessling, Director of Programs
Rebecca is Benjamin Rush Institute’s Director of Programs. Rebecca comes to BRI a seasoned outreach and communications professional with an extensive background in grassroots organizing, public relations, policy, marketing, event planning, and media relations. Previously, Rebecca served as a founding leader, board member and spokesperson of the national grassroots conservative woman’s group, Smart Girl Politics. She has filled various political campaign roles, including serving as Deputy Director of Coalitions for the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee and Deputy Youth Director for McCain-Palin 2008. Rebecca has led major strategic accounts at an internationally recognized marketing and public relations firm, worked as the Production Director and Head of Operations for a boutique political advertising agency and consulted with businesses worldwide on marketing, crisis management, communications and outreach. Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C, a M.A. from Georgetown University, and a certificate in Public Relations from the University of Virginia. This happily married mom to three girls lives in Fairfax, Virginia.
Charlotte Monte, Programs and Marketing
Charlotte is responsible for conference and chapter event logistics and providing support to the executive director.
Charlotte lived in Europe for several years where, through travels and study (Europe, Africa, bilingual in German), she gained a unique world perspective. Upon graduating from UC Berkeley, she worked for The Breakthrough Foundation, a non-profit whose mission was to transform the lives of at-risk youth. Subsequently, while in marketing and project management for Silicon Valley high tech companies, Charlotte volunteered with other organizations dedicated to improving quality of life through self-empowerment. She recently completed a multi-year volunteer commitment to the Board of Directors for The Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley as Vice President of Membership. She is married with three grown children, whom she homeschooled with her husband.