Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that we have named three new Senior Fellows: Carlos Cuéllar, Danna Mauch and Thierry van Bastelaer.

Carlos Cuéllar, M.D., vice president and principal associate in International Health, serves as the portfolio manager of the Clinical HIV/AIDS Services Strengthening project in Mozambique, and the Maternal & Child Centers of Excellence project in the Dominican Republic. He is also technical lead of the Maternal & Child Health Technical Working Group within the International Health Division.  He is also Quality Assurance Director for International Health.

Danna Mauch, PhD, is a principal associate in U.S. Health, where she works on policy, evaluation and implementation assistance projects addressing insurance, service delivery and financing reform opportunities. She provides project leadership and technical expertise for a diverse portfolio of work with federal and state government agencies, public policy, advocacy, service delivery and health plan organizations. Her work addresses a broad range of at-risk and vulnerable groups of children, adults and elders.

Thierry van Bastelaer, PhD, principal associate in International Health, helps define and implement the strategic direction for Abt’s work on risk and resilience initiatives, leads activities designed to increase the use of risk management and financing strategies to increase access to quality health care by low-income families, and conducts research on a variety of health finance topics.  He also leads the Health Financing Technical Working Group within the International Health Division and co-directs the Risk and Resilience Methods Center.   

They join our existing Senior Fellows Steve Bell, Jill Khadduri, Jacob Klerman, John Lamb and Debbie Walker.

The Senior Fellows will serve a three-year term.

The Fellows Program has been an important part of Abt Associates since the 1980s. Consistent with our five-year strategy of building reputational capital, the Fellows since FY12 have focused on external thought leadership activities. These activities include, but are not limited to, publishing in peer-reviewed journals; making high-profile presentations at conferences and to government officials and other policymakers; conducting interviews with the media; publishing op-eds; leveraging social media, and leading professional associations. The goal of these activities is to inform and influence clients, professionals, policymakers, and other key audiences. 

The new Senior Fellows were selected by a review committee consisting of Jay Knott, Mark Spranca, and two members of Abt's Board, Cinnamon Dornsife and Anne-Marie Slaughter. They reviewed applications and made recommendations to Kathleen Flanagan. Selections were made on the basis of the applicants’ thought leadership experience, potential, and plans, as well as their alignment to the company’s five-year strategy.

Please join me in congratulating Carlos, Danna and Thierry. 

Mark