Avenel Joseph, PhD, joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in early 2020 as the Vice President for Policy, where she provides strategic leadership to the Foundation’s programming, heads its Washington presence and guides the foundation’s policy direction as RWJF takes bold leaps alongside grantees to transform health in our lifetime. Previously, Dr. Joseph spent more than a decade shaping public policy in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, beginning her career in 2009 as a key advisor on health, environment and consumer protection for the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources committees and in a elected Representative’s personal office.

In 2013 she moved to the Senate as Chief Health Advisor managing a comprehensive health portfolio before transitioning to Director of Policy, where she was responsible for setting the direction for the policy, investigative and legislative efforts of the office and served as a key confidant and advisor to the Senator. Dr. Joseph received her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology and holds degres from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Penn State University.