Friends of PCORI Reauthorization co-chair, the Honorable Tony Coelho said “I want to congratulate Dr. Nakela Cook on being selected to serve as PCORI’s next Executive Director. With a newly minted 10-year vote of confidence from Congress, PCORI has a tremendous opportunity ahead to continue driving an efficient and informed health system that is truly patient-centered and responsive to the individual characteristics, needs, and priorities of patients and people with disabilities. We are excited to work with Dr. Cook in fulfilling PCORI’s statutory promise of amplifying the voices of patients and people with disabilities in determining research priorities.”
Prior to serving as Chief of Staff in the Immediate Office of the Director at NHLB, Dr. Cook was a Medical Officer in NHLBI’s Division of Cardiovascular Sciences. In this role, she focused on cardiovascular outcomes research, epidemiology, and clinical trials. Her research interests also include racial/ethnic and sex/gender disparities in cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular health services research, comparative effectiveness research, and cardiovascular imaging, making her an exceptional person for this important leadership role at PCORI.
“The Friends of PCORI Reauthorization coalition is pleased that the Board chose a new leader with such a distinguished background in comparative effectiveness and disparities research,” said the Honorable Phil Gingrey, MD, co-chair of the Friends of PCORI Reauthorization coalition. “Dr. Cook’s professional and institutional leadership experience at the NIH will be an incredible asset to PCORI. Thanks to the recent 10-year reauthorization of PCORI, we can look forward to a long relationship of working with Dr. Cook to accomplish PCORI’s important work on behalf of patients.”
Read the official announcement here.
Read Dr. Cook’s biography here.
Learn more about PCORI’s mission and work here.
About Friends of PCORI Reauthorization
The Friends of PCORI Reauthorization is a coalition of patient and family caregiver organizations, health provider associations, biopharma/life science companies, payers, and other interested entities and individuals supportive of PCORI reauthorization.
The Friends of PCORI Reauthorization coalition is co-chaired by the Honorable Tony Coelho, Former U.S. Representative and Chairman, Partnership to Improve Patient Care, and the Honorable Dr. Phil Gingrey, former U.S. Representative and Senior Advisor, District Policy Group. The coalition is convened by the Alliance for Aging Research and Partnership to Improve Patient Care. Learn more at www.reauthorizepcori.org.