Administered by AcademyHealth with Support from Kaiser Permanente

2007 Health Policy in Action! Fellows

KC Decker, Program Analyst, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Public Health and Emergency Preparedness

KC Decker works in emergency operations for the Department of Health and Human Services where he has become an integral part of the enterprise's operations in developing a strategic Training, Exercise, and Lessons Learned readiness plan for the entire Department. He currently manages training programs which consist of multi-modular courses reaching over 1300 students a year. His operational experience with HHS also includes participating in response operations such as that of Hurricane's Katrina and Rita and as a liaison with the states of New Jersey, Florida, Nevada and Texas during various public health emergencies. Decker is responsible for developing and implementing HHS operating procedures (SOP) adopted by OPHEP for lessons learned and evaluation in organizational learning for emergencies and participating in a joint HHS, DoS and FBI initiative to develop and conduct forensic epidemiology training for all G8 nations.

Decker serves as a member of several groups, including: The White House, Homeland Security Council Steering Committee for the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) for Planning, Training, and Exercise Evaluation (PTEE), and the planning group on task forces for U.S. response, security and prevention for Pandemic Influenza, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Plague, Smallpox and Anthrax.

Decker holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Auburn University and a Master's degree in International Affairs from The Georgia Institute of Technology. Currently, he is pursuing a Doctorate of Science in Systems Engineering at George Washington University through the Center for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management . Decker's hobbies include golfing, reading and traveling off the beaten path. He resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and their two dogs.

Oliver Kim, Health and Social Policy Legislative Assistant, Office of Senator Debbie Stabenow

Since 2003, Oliver J. Kim has served as the legislative assistant for health and social policy for Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). In this role, he has worked on federal entitlements, health insurance, nutrition, and prescription drug pricing. Oliver also assisted Senator Stabenow in developing the Senate Health Care Quality Improvement and Information Technology Caucus and pass a resolution recognizing the value of information technology in health care. 

Prior to his tenure, he worked on health care planning issues for a Michigan coalition of labor and business interests and was a policy fellow at Wayne State University in Detroit . Oliver obtained his law degree from the University of Minnesota and his undergraduate degree from Indiana University-Bloomington.