|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…
|
OAKLAND, Calif. — Ninez A. Ponce, PhD, MPP, a leading expert on health equity, public health data, and health disparities affecting underserved communities, has been elected to serve on the board of directors of the California Health Care Foundation.
Ponce is director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and principal investigator for the California Health Interview Survey, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive state health survey. She is also a professor and Fred W. and Pamela K. Wasserman Endowed Chair in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
“I am thrilled to welcome Ninez to our board,” said Sandra R. Hernández, MD, President and CEO of the foundation. “She is a brilliant researcher and a powerful advocate for health equity. Her leadership as a prominent Filipina scholar provides a critical lens for our work, especially her ability to shed light on disparities that have long been obscured by data aggregation.”
“The California Health Care Foundation has a deep and unwavering commitment to advancing health equity, and I am honored to join its board,” Ponce said. “I look forward to working with Dr. Hernández and my fellow board members to help the foundation advance its mission of ensuring all Californians have the opportunity to lead a healthy life.”
‘Translating Data Into Actionable Insights’
Elizabeth Gibboney, chair of the CHCF Board of Directors, praised Ponce’s “visionary leadership of the California Health Interview Survey, which provides the foundational data that powers so much of CHCF’s work. Her expertise in translating data into actionable insights will be an enormous asset as we work to improve health care for all Californians.”
Throughout her career, Ponce has focused on promoting data equity to better address health disparities. As a co-founder of the California survey, she pioneered oversampling of Asian ethnic groups and the survey’s cultural and linguistic adaptation into Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Korean, Vietnamese, and Tagalog. This work is recognized as a gold standard for the meaningful representation of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities in population health data. It has been critical to understanding the health needs of California’s diverse population.
Ponce was recently elected to the National Academy of Medicine and is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. She has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Health Statistics and was a member of the data disaggregation committee for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
Her portfolio includes more than 200 scientific publications and reports. This body of work has been recognized with prominent awards from organizations such as the CDC Foundation, the James F. and Sarah T. Fries Foundation, AcademyHealth, the American Association of Public Opinion Research, and Asian Health Services.
Ponce received her doctorate in health services from UCLA, a master of public policy from Harvard University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Contact Information:
Chief Communications Officer
About the California Health Care Foundation
The California Health Care Foundation is dedicated to advancing meaningful, measurable improvements in the way the health care system works for the people of California, particularly those with low incomes and those whose needs are not well served by the status quo. We work to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. CHCF informs policymakers and industry leaders, invests in ideas and innovations, and connects with stakeholders to create a more responsive, patient-centered health care system.
