Insights on Federal Funding and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – September 25

As Senior Director of Public Policy and Strategic Outreach at the Association of American Medical Colleges, Tannaz Rasouli holds primary responsibility for the AAMC’s legislative advocacy in support of medical research, medical education, and public health funding and preparedness. In July 2016, she was named Executive Director of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, a coalition of more than 200 patient and voluntary health groups, medical and scientific societies, and academic and research organizations, supporting an enhanced federal investment in the biomedical, behavioral, and population-based research conducted and supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

In addition to her current areas of responsibility, since joining AAMC’s Government Relations office in January 2006, Tannaz has been responsible for several legislative issues of interest to medical schools and teaching hospitals, including the health care workforce, health equity, and other federal health care programs. From 2007 – 2016, Tannaz served as co-executive director of the Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC), an alliance of more than 60 national organizations representing schools, programs, health professionals, and students advocating continued support for federal health care workforce programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration. In this capacity, she provided strategic direction for the coalition’s advocacy activities, coordinating briefings, meetings, and correspondence with Congress and the administration. 
 
Tannaz received her bachelor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and her master of public health in health policy from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.  
 
Since 2013, she also has served as adjunct faculty at the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies. 

Christa Wagner currently serves as a Senior Legislative Analyst at the AAMC where she is responsible for legislative and regulatory policy and advocacy in support of medical research and academic medicine’s partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Her work includes supporting and coordinating two coalitions convened by the AAMC, the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research which supports an enhanced federal investment in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Friends of VA Medical Care and Health Research (FOVA) which is dedicated to supporting an increased federal investment in the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical and Prosthetic research program. Christa also serves as an editor of the AAMC’s weekly government relations newsletter, Washington Highlights. 

Prior to joining the AAMC, Christa served as the American Society for Human Genetics (ASHG) and National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Genetics and Public Policy Fellow. In this role, she contributed to health and science policy efforts at a scientific member society, as well as in the executive and legislative branches of the US government, including Capitol Hill experience as a health fellow in the office of US Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Christa received her Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry from Oberlin College and her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.