Jessie Gruman, Ph. D, is the founder and president of the Center for the Advancement of Health, a nonpartisan Washington-based policy institute funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation and others. Established in 1992, the center works to translate health research into effective policy and practice. Ms. Gruman previously worked in the private sector (AT&T), the public sector (National Institutes of Health) and the voluntary health sector (American Cancer Society.) She received her undergraduate degree from Vassar College and her doctorate in social psychology from Columbia University. She is a professorial lecturer in the School of Public Health at The George Washington University and serves on the boards of trustees of the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Institute, and the Sallan Foundation. She has received numerous awards for distinguished service and leadership and has received honorary doctorates in public policy from Carnegie Mellon University and public service from Northeastern University. Ms. Gruman is the author of AfterShock: What to do When the Doctor Gives You - or Someone You Love - a Devastating Diagnosis (Walker Publishing, 2007), a book about how people use scientific information to make decisions about their health care, and Behavior Matters: 15 Years of Health Behavior Advocacy (in press), as well as numerous scientific papers, op ed pieces, and articles.