Ellen MacKenzie to lead health policy and management department

Aug 29 2005

Ellen J. MacKenzie, PhD, a leading expert in the study of injury prevention and trauma services research, has been selected to chair the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. MacKenzie, a professor in the Department and director of the Bloomberg School's Center for Injury Research and Policy , will begin her new duties on September 1, 2005.

MacKenzie will succeed Donald Steinwachs , PhD, who will step down from chairing the Department after 11 years. He will lead the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“Ellen MacKenzie is an esteemed member of the faculty and the right person to set a strategic agenda to move the Department forward,” said Alfred Sommer , MD, MHS, dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

MacKenzie intends to establish a new direction for the Department of Health Policy and Management as some of its behavioral science focus will shift to the new Department of Health, Behavior and Society .

“I am honored to be selected to chair the Department of Health Policy and Management. Don Steinwachs left a wonderful legacy for the Department and I can only hope to build on that legacy by furthering the excellent work of the faculty, students and staff,” said MacKenzie. “Over the next several months, I look forward to working with the Department to develop a blueprint to guide us into the future.”

MacKenzie is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health where she earned Master of Science and doctoral degrees in biostatistics. She joined the Hopkins faculty in 1980 and holds joint appointments in the School's Department of Biostatistics and with the departments of Emergency Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In addition to her faculty appointments, MacKenzie served as senior associate dean at the School from 1996 to 2000 and as associate chair for Health Services Research from 1994 to 1996. Recently, MacKenzie completed a term as chair of the National Advisory Committee for Injury Prevention and Control and is also president-elect of the American Trauma Society.

MacKenzie's research focuses on the impact of health services and policies on the short- and long-term consequences of traumatic injury. She has contributed to the development and evaluation of tools for measuring both the severity and outcome of injury, which have been used to evaluate the organization, financing and performance of trauma care and rehabilitation. Of particular interest to MacKenzie is the delineation of factors (both medical and non-medical) that explain variations in functional outcome. Her research advanced the knowledge of the economic and social impact of injuries and the understanding of how personal and environmental factors influence recovery and return to work. MacKenzie's ongoing research includes evaluating the long-term benefits and costs of surgical reconstruction versus amputation following limb-threatening injury. She and her colleagues won the prestigious Ann Doner Vaughan Kappa Delta Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons for this research. MacKenzie is also directing a national evaluation of the cost and effectiveness of trauma care and efforts to develop self management programs for people living with a disability.

Her awards include the A.J. Mirkin Service Award from the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, the Distinguished Career Award from the American Public Health Association (Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section) and the American Trauma Society's Distinguished Achievement Award. She is also an honorary fellow of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma.