Key Staff
The Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund is the important new program of the National Research Center for Women & Families, 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 is a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics. 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 20 and 24. 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
Dana Casciotti, Ph.D. Public Health Research Director
Dana Casciotti is the senior fellow at the National Research Center for Women & Families and its Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund. Her responsibilities include a research and policy focus on the prevention and treatment of serious diseases, particularly cancer. She recently received her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and holds a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh. Her training has focused on behavioral and social factors related to health, especially cancer prevention and control. Her dissertation research examined news media coverage of the HPV vaccine, including media messages about HPV vaccine-related legislation and discussions about sexual health behaviors in the context of HPV vaccination. Dr. Casciotti received the Carol Eliasberg Martin Scholarship in Cancer Prevention in 2008 and 2009 for her research on cancers in women.
Prior to joining NRC for Women & Families, Dr. Casciotti spent two years as a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the Division of Cancer Control and Populations Sciences. At NCI, she worked on a project to increase cancer screening in community health centers across the country and served on an interest group designed to improve cancer care delivery and outcomes. She also served as an evaluation fellow for the American Cancer Society, where she designed and conducted a program evaluation of the Pennsylvania Cancer Control Consortium, focused on utilization.
Emily Moore Research and Administrative Assistant
Emily Moore is the Research and Administrative Assistant at the National Research Center for Women & Families where she assists with research, policy efforts, data preparation and other organizational tasks.
Emily Moore graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University in May 2011, with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health Studies. During her time at Johns Hopkins, she worked closely with Professor Lee Bone at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, focusing on Community-Based Participatory Research in tobacco cessation, cardiovascular disease, community health workers and cancer. She also was one of the first Community Action Summer interns at the JHU Center for Social Concern and volunteered her time at Project PLASE, a homeless shelter, working as a GED tutor.
Emily has a significant interest in using research to inform and change health policy. Most recently, she completed an internship at the National Partnership for Women and Families and her work centered on health reform implementation, Medicare and Medicaid, health IT and patient-centered health care.
Ms. Moore can be reached at em@center4research.org.
Tiffanie Hammond Lenora Moody Fellow
Tiffanie Hammond is the Lenora Moody Fellow at the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund. She is in charge of analyzing current and potential medical recommendations and health policy issues pertaining to lung cancer. Her focus is on how to improve prevention, screening, treatment, and quality of life for women diagnosed with lung cancer.
In addition to her fellowship position, Ms. Hammond serves as the Research and Operations Coordinator for the National Lung Screening Trial and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University. In this capacity, she is responsible for the management and quality assurance of clinical data along with study compliance and retention of study participants. She is currently completing her Master’s degree in Health Promotion, at the George Washington University School of Public Health. She is especially interested in gender and racial disparities in cancer and community health research, interventions, and outreach.
“The Lenora Moody Fellowship offers the unique opportunity to educate and inform women about current and prospective lung cancer issues, translate research and promote sound public health policy. Most study participants don’t realize that they’re not only instrumental in the clinical arena, but they can affect public policy for generations to come.” Ms. Hammond can be reached at th@center4research.org.
