West Health Institute is a medical research organization offering innovative patient-centered solutions and technologies.

Health Care

Research

Wireless

West Health Institute

Courtney Enge, MBA, MPH

Amy Stuck PhD, RN

Claire Andrews

Maya Mendez, MPH, MSW

Tim Lash, MBA

Shelley Valentine

Yuvraj Pathak

Michael Scherer

Haw-minn Lu

Evelyn Brady

Erin Gibson, MPH

Caroline Picher

Camille (McBride) Belsky, MPH

Judy Sheard

Kathy Burke

Shabnam Sharif

Kaylee Knowles

Joanne Zou, CPA

Cristina Boccuti

mwas kamau

Demetress Baptiste

Delores Simon

Bonni Abdurahman

Amy Sander Herr, PMP

In his role as chief medical officer and executive vice president of clinical research, medical informatics, and telehealth, Dr. Zia Agha advances West Health’s mission to lower healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence.

Dr. Agha serves as physician leader for West Health, which includes the [West Health Institute](/org/west-health-institute), Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center and Gary and Mary West Foundation, ensuring its research portfolio and initiatives are translated into clinical practice, policy reform and scalable innovations that will allow seniors to successfully age in place. Dr. Agha leads the development and execution of clinical research activities and brings a comprehensive understanding of the evolving field of clinical informatics such as clinical information systems, telehealth, and data science.

Dr. Agha joined the [West Health Institute](/org/west-health-institute) in 2014 and leads the organization’s clinical research and medical informatics initiatives, focused on creating and advancing senior-appropriate acute and chronic care models, and improving access to long-term services and supports.

Prior to joining West Health, Dr. Agha was director for the Health Services Research and Development (HSRD) division at VA San Diego Healthcare System and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego where he currently holds an appointment as a part-time professor.

A practicing physician, Dr. Agha received his MD degree from [Aga Khan University](/org/aga-khan-university) in Karachi, Pakistan and an MS degree in Clinical Epidemiology and General Internal Medicine fellowship in Health Services Research from the [Medical College of Wisconsin](/org/medical-college-of-wisconsin). He is a Diplomat of the [American Board of Internal Medicine](/org/american-board-of-internal-medicine).

Zia Agha

Nicholas J. Valeriani brings valuable expertise in engineering, medical devices and diagnostics, and non-profit leadership to advance West Health’s mission to lowering healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence.

Valeriani established himself as a visionary healthcare leader over a 34-year career with [Johnson & Johnson](/org/johnson-johnson) where he led several corporate functions and was a member of the executive committee. Key positions held by Valeriani include corporate vice president of human resources; worldwide chairman of medical devices & diagnostics; and vice president of the Office of Strategy & Growth. He was instrumental in identifying global healthcare trends that led to the creation of a new wellness and prevention business platform and is a pioneer in the area of digital health.

He currently serves on the board of directors for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and [Edwards Lifesciences](/org/edwards-lifesciences). Valeriani has an MBA from [Rutgers University](/org/rutgers-university), Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from [Rutgers University](/org/rutgers-university), College of Engineering.

Nicholas J. Valeriani

In his role as Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President, Dr. Jon Zifferblatt advances West Health’s mission to lower healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence.

At West Health, Dr. Zifferblatt creates and implements the strategic successful aging initiatives, as well as co-managing the platform focused on lowering the cost of healthcare. Under his leadership, the organization is focused on driving integration across its successful aging clinical research portfolios, models of excellence and cost of healthcare strategic initiatives. Ensuring that the work done by West Health has a maximal impact – at scale – for older adults is a key area of his focus.

Prior to joining West Health, Dr. Zifferblatt has had previous roles in the population health, evidence generation, and healthcare business sectors, and has served in a variety of executive, research, and clinical capacities in the U.S., China, and Japan.

A California native, he completed undergraduate work at [Stanford University](/org/stanford), received his medical degree from [UC San Diego](/org/uc-san-diego), and a combined MBA/MPH from [UC Berkeley](/org/uc-berkeley).

Jon Zifferblatt

Tim Lash oversees the development and execution of West Health’s successful aging portfolio across its nonprofit applied medical research, policy and advocacy initiatives and outcomes-based philanthropy. This work supports the organization’s mission of lowering healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence.

Lash has extensive experience in shaping and advancing innovative and disruptive healthcare models, establishing collaborations across a diverse group of stakeholders and organizations, creating new growth platform strategies, and executing acquisitions/equity investments. Prior to joining West Health, he held leadership roles at [Johnson & Johnson](/org/johnson-johnson) and several other healthcare companies.

Lash holds an M.B.A. from [New York University](/org/nyu)’s Stern School of Business, with a concentration in finance and marketing. He earned his B.S. in biology from [Union College](/org/union-college). Lash also serves on the advisory board of the [University of Rochester](/org/university-of-rochester)’s d.health Summit. He also serves on the board of directors for Reflexion Health and The Learning Corporation. Additionally, he is a member of the Drug Selection and Market Trend committees for Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug company.

Timothy A. Lash

Charles V. Sederstrom, Jr. began practicing law in Omaha, Nebraska in 1968 with Donald H. Erickson and subsequently began the law firm of Erickson|Sederstrom. Sederstrom’s area of specialization has been in Corporate Law with a particular reference on Health Law. He was formerly Senior Vice President of Legal, Compliance and Legislative Services to Alegent Creighton Health, which is the largest non-governmental employer in the state of Nebraska and the largest hospital in the state of Nebraska with 10 hospitals, 450 employed physicians and over 100 separate points of entry into the health system.

Sederstrom is a very active member and leader in many legal and civic organizations, including [American Diabetes Association](/org/american-diabetes-association-inc), American Lung Association, Arthritis Foundation, [Boy Scouts of America](/org/boy-scouts-of-america), Combined Health Agencies Drive of Nebraska, Goodwill Industries, [United Way](/org/united-way), [Rotary International](/org/rotary-international), Chamber of Commerce, and the Omaha Home for Boys.

During the past twenty years, Sederstrom also has been involved with the Salvation Army having served on the Omaha Board and for over ten years on the National Board. In addition, he was formerly Chairman of the Combined Health Agencies of America.

Charles Sederstrom

In her role as Chief Financial Officer, Sally Hallak brings more than 20 years of professional accounting and finance experience to advance West Health’s mission to lower healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence.

Hallak joined West Health in 2013 and leads the finance team, gives strategic management and fiduciary oversight to the organization’s financial and accounting policies and practices, and provides regular reporting to the boards of directors. She is also responsible for all financial accounting, reporting, tax and audit functions for the various West Health entities and previously served as Vice President of Finance and Controller.

Her background includes extensive accounting, tax, financial controls, and auditing experience. Prior to joining West Health, Hallak held previous roles at PKF San Diego, Sharp HealthCare, [Cardinal Health](/org/cardinal-health), CareFusion, and consulting roles for various medical device, pharmaceutical, and healthcare organizations.

Hallak holds an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license in the state of California. She earned a Bachelor of Accountancy degree from the [University of San Diego](/org/university-of-san-diego). She is also a member of the American Institute of CPAs.

Sally Hallak

Mark McClellan, MD, Ph.D., is the Robert J. Margolis Professor of Business, Medicine, and Health Policy, and Director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at [Duke University](/org/duke-university) with offices at Duke and in Washington DC. The new Center will support and conduct research, evaluation, implementation, and educational activities to improve health policy and health, through collaboration across [Duke University](/org/duke-university) and Health System, and through partnerships between the public and private sectors. It integrates the social, clinical, and analytical sciences to integrate technical expertise and practical capabilities to develop and apply policy solutions that improve health and the value of health care locally, nationally, and worldwide.

Dr. McClellan is a doctor and an economist, and his work has addressed a wide range of strategies and policy reforms to improve health care, including such areas as payment reform to promote better outcomes and lower costs, methods for development and use of real-world evidence, and more effective drug and device innovation. Before coming to Duke, he served as a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he was Director of the Health Care Innovation and Value Initiatives and led the Richard Merkin Initiative on Payment Reform and Clinical Leadership. He also has a highly distinguished record in public service and in academic research. Dr. McClellan is a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he developed and implemented major reforms in health policy. These include the Medicare prescription drug benefit, Medicare and Medicaid payment reforms, the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative, and public-private initiatives to develop better information on the quality and cost of care.

Dr. McClellan is the founding chair and a current board member of the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and chairs the Academy’s Leadership Council for Value and Science-Driven Health care, co-chairs the guiding committee of the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, and is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has also previously served as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and senior director for health care policy at the White House, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Department of the Treasury. He was previously an associate professor of economics and medicine with tenure at Stanford University and has twice received the Kenneth Arrow Award for Outstanding Research in Health Economics.

Mark B. McClellan

Marc Harper is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of West Family Holdings. Marc joined West in 2010 as CFO. Prior to joining West, Marc managed the Deloitte Tax’s Private Client Services practice in Orange County. Marc was also previously a managing director of myCFO. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants,  [American Bar Association](/org/american-bar-association), and the California Society of CPAs. In addition, Marc sits on numerous charitable boards in both Orange County and San Diego County. Marc earned his B.S. in Business Administration with an option in professional accountancy from California State University, Long Beach, and a J.D. from Western State University College of Law.

Marc Harper

Gary West

As chief executive officer of West Health and chair of the board of directors for the Gary and Mary West Foundation, the [West Health Institute](/org/west-health-institute) and the West Health Endowment, Shelley Lyford shapes the organizations’ overall direction, guides high-impact grantmaking, and develops strategies to improve the lives of seniors in America.

Solely funded by philanthropists Gary and Mary West, West Health is dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence. West Health is a family of nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations including the Gary and Mary West Foundation and the [West Health Institute](/org/west-health-institute), in San Diego, CA and the West Health Policy Center in Washington, DC. Together, these organizations work in unison, combining applied medical research, policy, advocacy and outcomes-based grantmaking to advance successful aging.

Lyford was instrumental in establishing the Gary and Mary West Foundation in 2006. Under her leadership for the past 16 years, the Gary and Mary West Foundation has awarded nearly $250 million to high-impact organizations improving the lives of seniors, their families and caregivers. As CEO and Chair, Lyford leads the foundation’s seminal successful aging work. The Gary and Mary West Foundation is one of only several foundations in the country solely dedicated to aging. Additionally, Lyford is the CEO and Chair of the [West Health Institute](/org/west-health-institute), which conducts groundbreaking applied and translational medical research. The data generated by the Institute provides the evidence needed for healthcare providers, policymakers, and communities to make more informed decisions about advancing high-quality, affordable healthcare delivery models and support services.

Lyford’s vision has led to the development of several innovative healthcare programs that now serve as national models of excellence. These flagship programs and organizations include California’s first nationally accredited, senior-specific emergency department, the Gary and Mary West Senior Emergency Care Unit at UC San Diego Health, and Gary and Mary West PACE in north San Diego, a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) which is the gold standard of care helping seniors to age in place, in the communities that matter to them. Lyford also oversaw the development and now serves as the chair of the first-of-its-kind nonprofit Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center, which ensures low-income seniors have access to high-quality, affordable dental care integrated with wraparound health and wellness services. These and other models of care are supported by various research initiatives with key collaborators including the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Geriatrics Society, Brown University, Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Duke University, Meals on Wheels America, Mount Sinai Health System, UC San Diego Health, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In 2019, Lyford was appointed for a three-year term as a commissioner on the California Commission on Aging, advising the state’s governor and legislature, along with federal, state and local agencies, on issues, policies and regulations that affect California’s seniors. She was subsequently appointed to California’s Master Plan for Aging Stakeholder Advisory Committee. Prior to these appointments, Lyford played a critical role in launching a statewide public awareness campaign called “We Stand With Seniors,” which brought aging to the forefront of the 2018 California gubernatorial race.

Under her direction, the Gary and Mary West Foundation was one of the 10 founding organizations behind Civica Rx, the nation’s first not-for-profit generic drug company helping patients by addressing generic drug shortages and lowering the high prices of lifesaving medications. Lyford continues to safeguard the company’s not-for-profit social welfare mission by serving as vice-chair of the board of directors. She is also director of the Civica Foundation, which fosters philanthropic support to manufacture and distribute affordable generic medications, and also acts as an advisor to Civica Scripts, an organization dedicated to bringing lower-cost generic medicines directly to consumers in hospital or retail pharmacies.

Lyford is the co-leader of the West Health Investment Committee and acts as a primary liaison with Northern Trust and Summit Rock Advisors. She is also a member of the Limited Partner Advisory Committee of Martis Capital.

A dedicated San Diegan, Lyford serves as a board director of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, where she promotes San Diego as a center for medical research. She is also an advisor to the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Lyford holds a master’s degree in international relations and political economy from the University of San Diego.

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