Serena Vinter’s bi-monthly column for the Health Policy Form will focus on the need to include prevention and wellness in our discussions about the health system in the United States. Ms. Vinter is a Senior Research Associate at TFAH. In this capacity she researches, analyzes, and writes about public health policies including public health emergency preparedness, obesity and chronic disease prevention, and public health financing.

Before joining TFAH, Ms. Vinter worked at the Center for Communication Programs at Johns Hopkins University. There she contributed to the development of ASAP: Avian and Pandemic Influenza Strategic Communication Action Planner. ASAP is a web-based resource to help program officers draft communication plans and design materials both in preparation for and in response to an avian and/or pandemic influenza outbreak. Prior to attending graduate school, she spent five years as a reporter for various media outlets including Voice of America and Dow Jones Newswires. Ms. Vinter holds an M.H.S. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a B.A. in political science from Davidson College.