Dr. Jennifer Mandelbaum, PhD, MPH is a public health researcher and healthcare economics consultant at Optum whose work focuses on chronic disease prevention and mental health care across the life course. Dr. Mandelbaum has experience working across sectors (e.g., academia, government, industry) to understand and address root causes affecting issues of health care access and equity. She is passionate about using of data to tell stories that can improve public health, and her work has been published in leading journals including the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Preventing Chronic Disease, Health Education & Behavior, and Annals of Epidemiology. In recognition of her efforts to improve chronic disease outcomes, she received the Rising Star Award from the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (2022) and the Dr. Rick Foster Leadership Award from Live Healthy South Carolina (2020). Her active involvement in community and professional service strengthens and extends the dissemination of her practice-based and scholarly activities. She serves as a Governing Councilor for the American Public Health Association (APHA) as well as a member of APHA’s Education Board. She has also co-authored Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) policy statements on nutrition security and WIC’s cash value benefit. Cultivating the next generation of public health professionals is important to her, and she is currently a part-time faculty member in Tufts University’s Department of Community Health. She teaches with the understanding that her students may someday influence the practices and policies that are integral to shaping the future of public health. Dr. Mandelbaum holds a BA from Brandeis University, an MPH from Yale University, and a PhD from the University of South Carolina.