Laurie Zephyrin

Laurie Zephyrin is Senior Vice President for Advancing Health Equity at the Commonwealth Fund. She has extensive experience leading the vision, design, and delivery of innovative health care models across national health systems.

Dr. Zephyrin has extensive experience leading the vision, design, and delivery of innovative, equitable health care across national health systems. From 2009 to 2018, she was the first national director of the US Department of Veterans Affairs Reproductive Health Program, spearheading the strategic vision and leading systems change through the implementation of evidence-based policies and programs to improve the health of women veterans nationwide.

Toward the end of her tenure, she also served as acting assistant deputy undersecretary (and later acting deputy undersecretary) for health for the VA’s Community Care program where she led efforts to implement legislation, develop internal governance structures, and address patient outcomes through systemwide optimization of care delivery. As part of the leadership team, she also represented the VA before Congress and other internal and external stakeholders.

A board-certified clinician, Dr. Zephyrin is a clinical assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York University (NYU) Langone School of Medicine and was previously an assistant professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She earned her MD from the NYU School of Medicine; her MBA and MPH from Johns Hopkins University; and a BS in Biomedical Sciences from the City College of New York. She completed her residency training at Harvard’s Integrated Residency Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Zephyrin is an Aspen Health Innovators Fellow.