Key Staff
The National Research Center for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research, education and advocacy organization that promotes the health and safety of adults and children. The key staff of the National Research Center for Women & Families also manage the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund.
Diana Zuckerman, Ph.D., President
Diana Zuckerman received her Ph.D. in psychology from Ohio State University and was a post-doctoral fellow in epidemiology and public health at Yale Medical School. She started her career on the faculty of Vassar College and then directed a research project on children as a faculty member at Yale University.
After a post-doctoral fellowship in epidemiology and public health at Yale Medical School, she went to Harvard to direct a groundbreaking research study of college students. Dr. Zuckerman left her academic career in 1983, to come to Washington, D.C. as a Congressional Science Fellow in the program run by the American Association of the Advancement of Science. After spending the year as a staff member in the House of Representatives, she spent the next ten years working as a Congressional staffer in the House and Senate, and at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, working to improve federal health programs and policies for adults and children. She initiated highly influential Congressional hearings on a wide range of health issues, including cancer prevention and treatment and the safety of medical products.
In 1995, Dr. Zuckerman served as a senior policy advisor in the White House, working for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Since 1996, she has served in leadership positions at nonprofit organizations, and has been in her current position since 1999.
In addition, Dr. Zuckerman was a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics until the Center recently closed. She is currently on the Board of Directors of two nonprofit organizations, the Congressionally mandated Reagan Udall Foundation and the Alliance for a Stronger FDA. She was previously the chair of the Women’s Health Promotion Council appointed by the Governor of Maryland.
Dr. Zuckerman is the author of five books, several book chapters, and dozens of articles in medical and academic journals, and in newspapers across the country. Her policy work has resulted in news coverage on all the major TV networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, public television, 60 Minutes, 20/20, National Public Radio, and in major U.S. print media such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, USA Today, Detroit Free Press, New York Daily News, Newsweek, Time, U.S. News and World Report, Family Circle, New Yorker, Glamour, Self, as well as many other newspapers, magazines, and radio programs.
She is the proud mother of two children, ages 21 and 25. Dr. Diana Zuckerman can be reached at dz@center4research.org
Paul Brown, Government Relations Manager
Paul Brown educates federal and state lawmakers and their staffs about health and medical issues that affect adults and children. He also monitors the activities of the Food and Drug Administration and other federal health agencies whose work is designed to protect the public health. He leverages NRC for Women & Families’ influence through his effective outreach to other nonprofit organizations and by helping organize the legislative efforts of the Patient and Consumer Coalition.
Prior to joining NRC for Women & Families, Mr. Brown had 13 years of advocacy experience, as a consumer health care advocate with US PIRG and as the Southern Nevada Director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN).
In his previous work, Mr. Brown has authored or co-authored numerous reports on issues such as prescription drug prices, campaign finance reform, economic contributions of immigrants, and state taxes. He has been frequently quoted in the media and has published numerous op-eds and letters to the editor.
A graduate of the University of Iowa, Mr. Brown is married to Lori Lipman Brown, a former Nevada State Senator. Mr. Brown ran his wife’s successful grassroots State Senate campaign in 1992, spending less than $2,000 to win the primary campaign.
He can be reached at pb@center4research.org
Brandel France de Bravo, MPH, Director of Communications
Brandel France de Bravo is editor of our newsletter, The Voice, and is responsible for publications, media/ public relations and translating scientific findings into clear, easy-to-digest information that families, health professionals, and policy makers can use.
Ms. France de Bravo holds a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University and is a graduate of Warren Wilson’s MFA Program for Writers. She has two decades of experience in international and U.S. health programs, primarily in HIV/AIDS prevention, reproductive and maternal/child health, and harm reduction for drug users. As a social marketer and behavior change expert, she has designed, conducted and analyzed both quantitative and qualitative research, as well as developed health education campaigns using a variety of media.
Ms. France de Bravo is an author of three books and has given workshops and classes to families with young children in the Washington, D.C. area for over six years, and has served on the Early Childhood faculty at the Washington Waldorf School. Her writing and editing skills have earned her prizes and fellowships, including a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Prior to her current position, Ms. France de Bravo consulted for such organizations as USAID, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the Open Society Institute and Population Services International. While English is her first language, she is comfortable working in Spanish and French.
Ms. France de Bravo can be reached at bfb@center4research.org
Maura Duffy, Research and Administrative Assistant
Maura Duffy is the Research and Administrative Assistant, assisting with research, writing, data preparation and organizational tasks. Maura manages the online health hotline, using her science and pre-med background to translate complex medical jargon into information people can readily use, and to help bridge the communication gap between physicians, scientists, and the general public. She also helps us use research and data analysis to inform health policy.
Maura graduated from Georgetown University in May 2011, with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, a minor in Chemistry, and a concentration in pre-medicine. While at Georgetown, Maura worked as an Emergency Medical Technician-Basic for Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service, a student-run volunteer ambulance service. Maura responded to hundreds of emergency medical calls in the District of Columbia, providing rapid treatment and transport to critically ill and injured patients.
Ms. Duffy can be reached at md@center4research.org
Jennifer Yttri, Ph.D., Senior Fellow
Jennifer is a senior fellow, working on topics pertaining to the connection between immunity, inflammation, and disease. She is particularly interested in the responsible use of antibiotics and how overuse can have a negative impact on health. Prior to joining NRC, Dr. Yttri worked with the Washington University’s Young Scientist Program, developing programs to improve the science literacy of underprivileged students and their families. She directed a symposium for YSP’s 20th anniversary to connect scientists, educators, and national leaders to identify new ways for outreach programs to enhance science learning in the classroom. In 2010, the Young Scientist Program received the Science Educator award from the St. Louis Academy of Science for these efforts.
Dr. Yttri received her BS in biology from the College of William and Mary and her doctorate in immunology from Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focused on how the adaptive immune system distinguishes between foreign and self proteins, a process central to the balance between protection from infection and the generation of autoimmune disease such as arthritis. She can be reached at jy@center4research.org.
Laura Covarrubias, Marcy Gross Intern
Laura Covarrubias is the Marcy Gross intern, responsible for our public policy efforts to reduce violence against women, researching a variety of women’s health issues, and managing social media. She is using her internship to complete her practicum for her graduate studies at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins, where she is focusing on reproductive, perinatal, and women’s health. Prior to her graduate studies, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas at Austin, where she co-authored a forthcoming research paper on the gender divide in use of public libraries for Internet access.
Laura has worked on a number of women’s health and gender issues and is particularly interested in social and behavioral factors that place individuals at risk for both HIV/STIs and intimate partner violence. She hopes to develop her research to formulate interventions for at-risk populations.
Jessica Cote, Ros Branigan Intern
Jessica is the Ros Branigan intern at the National Research Center for Women & Families and works on a range of health issues including cancer prevention and treatment (with special attention to lung cancer), the impact of diet on health, and the safety of medical devices. She focuses on translating complicated science information into easy-to-understand suggestions for the general public.
Jessica graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity College in Hartford, CT in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. Her research projects and senior thesis focused on the use of a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet as therapy for neurological disorders including epilepsy, autism, and Huntington’s disease. During the summer before her senior year, she researched post-injury brain recovery at the University of California, Berkeley. Jessica also studied the role of genes in stress tolerance at the University of Buenos Aires while studying abroad in Argentina during her junior year at Trinity. After her internship, Jessica will return to South America as a Fulbright scholar to research the health benefits of the Chilean maqui berry.
In Memoriam
Gwendolyn Lewis, a former sociology professor with important positions in the National Research Council, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, was a professional photographer who volunteered her time as our photographer since our founding in 1999 until she died from cancer in 2012.
As our photographer and friend, Gwen is responsible for the many memorable color photographs of the exceptional women who received our Foremother awards, as well as capturing many other important people and moments through the years. As an artist, however, she specialized in black-and-white photography, with an emphasis on architectural subjects. Her work was exhibited in more than 100 shows in the Washington area and won many awards.