Dr. Simpson has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of AcademyHealth since 2011. A nationally recognized health policy researcher and pediatrician, she is a passionate advocate for the translation of research into policy and practice. Her research, and over 100 articles and commentaries in peer reviewed journals, focuses on the role of evidence and data to improve health and healthcare, particularly for children as well as minoritized and historically marginalized populations.

Before joining AcademyHealth, Dr. Simpson spent eight years as a professor of pediatrics, first as an Endowed Chair in Child Health Policy at the University of South Florida and then as the Director of the Child Policy Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati. She served as the Deputy Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality from 1996 to 2002. Dr. Simpson serves the Boards of Directors of the Institute for Accountable Care and the National Health Council, and the Editorial Advisory boards for HSR, the Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research and Healthcare: The Journal of Delivery Science and Innovation. In 2013, Dr. Simpson was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine).

Dr. Simpson earned her undergraduate and medical degrees at Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), a master’s in public health at the University of Hawaii, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in health services research and health policy at the University of California, San Francisco. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies in 2013.

In her spare time she loves to cook for her family and friends, walk and enjoy the pristine beaches of Saint Petersburg, FL.