Elizabeth Cope, PhD, MPH, is Chief Programs and Science Officer at AcademyHealth, the professional society for health services research and policy. She oversees the organization's scientific programs, including its four Signature Program Centers, each addressing a distinct part of what it takes for evidence to improve healthcare. As Strategic Lead of the Innovation Adoption Center, she works to close the gap between movement-building and frontline change so that evidence-based practice becomes usual practice at national scale.
For more than fifteen years, Dr. Cope has worked at the intersection of dissemination and implementation (D&I) science and quality improvement, driving change across safety-net, pediatric, and clinical research settings. She currently leads a portfolio of federally and privately funded initiatives, including two coalition-based initiatives to scale evidence-based practice (cancer biomarker testing and cognitive evaluation), the HRSA-funded Enhancing Systems of Care for Children with Medical Complexity Coordinating Center, and the dissemination strategy for MedStar Health Research Institute's Maternal Safety Taxonomy. Earlier in her career she managed a 12-state prospective cohort study funded by NCI, led quality improvement initiatives at a FQHC, and developed quality measures and supported policy implementation for CMS.
Her work spans building coalitions and participatory research capacity, designing and evaluating system improvements, and developing payment and performance policy, across content areas including medical complexity, HIV, cancer care, primary care, shared decision-making, and quality measurement. She is fluent across the federal environment that shapes health services research and delivery, including CMS/CMMI, AHRQ, NIH, PCORI, and federal grant oversight.
Dr. Cope earned her undergraduate degree at Rice University and her MPH and PhD at the University of Michigan. She is active in numerous associations and consortia and currently serves on the board of IVI.