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PHR Board of Directors

Robert S. Lawrence, MD

Chair of the Board of Directors

A founding member of PHR, Dr. Lawrence traveled to Chile with founding member Dr. Carola Eisenberg in one of PHR's earliest investigations of disappeared health workers. Learn More »

Deborah D. Ascheim, MD

Vice Chair of the Board of Directors

Deborah D. Ascheim, MD, joined the PHR Board in January 2008, is the current Vice-Chair of the Board, and has been doing medical evaluations for the PHR Asylum program since 2005. Learn More »

Eli Y. Adashi, MD, MS, CPE, FACOG

Board Member

Dr. Adashi is an academic executive with over 25 years of experience in Higher Education as well as in the Health and Life Sciences. He became a PHR Board member in 2008. Learn More »

Marion J. Bergman, MD, MPA

Board Member

Dr. Bergman devotes considerable time and energy to rural health and development projects in the developing world. Learn More »

Troy A. Brennan, MD, MPH

Board Member

Troyen A. Brennan, MD, MPH, is Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of CVS Caremark. He has served on PHR’s Board since 2010. Learn More »

Katherine "Katy" Close, MD, MPH

Board Member

Dr. Close is a board-certified Internist specializing in care for those without access to adequate medical care. She has worked throughout her career with the disadvantaged, in hospice settings and through free clinics. Learn More »

David Dantzker, MD

Board Member

Dr. David Dantzker is a general partner of Wheatley Partners LP, a New York based venture capital fund, where he manages the partnership's medical portfolio of companies. He joined PHR’s Board in 2010. Learn More »

Carola Eisenberg, MD

Board Member and Founding Member of PHR

Dr. Carola Eisenberg, a founding member of PHR, has dedicated more than five decades to advancing human rights across the globe. Her interest in medicine and aiding those in need began in her teen years in Argentina. Learn More »

H. Jack Geiger, MD, M Sci Hyg

Board Member and Founding Member of PHR

Dr. Geiger is a founding member and past president of PHR. Most of his professional career has been focused on the related issues of health, poverty, and civil rights. He initiated the community health center model in the US, founding and directing the nation's first two community health centers. Learn More »

Justice Richard J. Goldstone

Board Member

Justice Goldstone has spent his career working in many areas of human rights, including serving as Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry regarding Public Violence and Intimidation; this Commission came to be known as the Goldstone Commission. Learn More »

Michele Heisler, MD, MPA

Board Member

Dr. Heisler has volunteered for PHR since medical school, when she participated in a human rights investigation in Turkey. Since then she has helped analyze data and write reports for a number of PHR investigations. She has been a PHR Board member since 2010. Learn More »

Joel Lamstein

Board Member

Mr. Lamstein is founder and president of John Snow Inc., an international public health consulting firm. Founded in 1978, JSI now has more than 1,600 people stationed in the United States and throughout the world working to enhance the lives of underserved and vulnerable populations. Learn More »

Philip O. Ozuah, MD, PhD

Board Member

Dr. Ozuah's research has been focused on environmental exposures, obesity, and medical education. His specialty is pediatrics. Learn More »

Adam Richards, MD, MPH

Board Member

Dr. Richards is interested in developing measurement tools and evidence-based interventions to improve community health worker effectiveness among migrant populations. He is a co-author of PHR's report on Burma, "Life Under the Junta". Learn More »

Donna Shelley, MD, MPH

Board Member

Dr. Shelley was a founding member of the Women’s Health Center at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. As both a practicing internist and researcher her focus was improving quality outcomes for women. Learn More »

Gerson H. Smoger, JD, PhD

Dr. Smoger has been working as an International Human Rights lawyer for three decades. He has represented cases around the world and has been a leader in the fight against big tobacco. Dr. Smoger joined PHR’s board in 2010. Learn More »

Kerry J. Sulkowicz, MD

Board Member

Dr. Sulkowicz serves as a sounding board to some of the most influential business and political leaders in the US and abroad. Learn More »

Paul Williams, JD

Board Member

Paul’s interest in philanthropy and human rights was fostered by the lives of his grandfather and father. His favorite quote: “To serve others well is to truly live.” Learn More »

Shaheja Sitafalwalla, MPH

Board Member

A medical student at Rush Medical College in Chicago, IL, Shaheja began working with PHR in 2008 as a Student Program intern, and went on to serve as the Midwest Training and Education Coordinator and as a member of the National Student Advisory Board. Learn More »