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Health Horizons Staff

Abhay Sukumaran | Collaborative Media Designer

Institute for the Future

Bob Johansen | Distinguished Fellow

Institute for the Future

Bob has worked for more than 30 years as a forecaster, exploring the human side of new technologies. He has a deep interest in the future of religion and its impact on business, society, and individuals. Bob works mainly with senior corporate executives across a wide range of industries. He has rich experience in presenting IFTF's foresight and then drawing out insights-inputs to strategy-and-action steps.

Cesar Castro | Research Director, Health Horizons and Technology Horizons Programs

Institute for the Future

Cesar Castro is a Research Director at the Institute For The Future, working both with the Technology Horizons Team and the Health Horizons Team. He also directs the X2 Project at the institute (www.sciencex2.org). His primary areas of research include open innovation, crowdsourcing, hybrid business models, and new models for online cooperative communities.

Chris Sumner | IT Director

Institute for the Future

Chris Sumner joined Institute for the Future in 1998.

Crystal Lynn Keeler | Research Manager, Health Horizons Program

Institute for the Future

Crystal Lynn Keeler grew up in Nebraska, where she was inspired to make a difference by the innate kindness of the Nebraskan people. After studying biology and sociology in college, she was pointed in the direction of public health by a college teacher and found this field to be a perfect marriage of her studies and the desire to give back to the community. As a student of quantitative health policy, Crystal believes that small changes can have large impacts, a philosophy she applies to her interests in community nutrition and obesity.

David Evan Harris | Research Affiliate

Institute for the Future

David Evan Harris is a Research Affiliate at the Institute for the Future and Executive Director of the Global Lives Project, a non-profit media organization with more than 100 volunteer collaborators in 10 countries. His work with IFTF involves new media projects spanning across all research programs as well as research specifically pertaining to social change, political economy, and the global south.

Jackie Copeland-Carson | Research Director

Institute for the Future

An anthropologist and urban planner specializing in community and identity formation, Jackie leads the Institute's application of forecasting to the challenges facing philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. She has worked for over 25 years as an executive, grant-maker, evaluator, or researcher for foundations, including the Pew, Lilly, and Northwest Area foundations. She has served as vice president of The Philadelphia Foundation and founding managing director for philanthropic services at U.S. Bank Private Client Group.

Jason Tester | Research & Design Manager

Institute for the Future

Jason Tester's interests in interactive technology began the old-fashioned way, tinkering one-on-one with the equipment he had at hand. With his work on technological voting, however, he saw the possible effects of computer-human interaction on the future of society as a whole.

Jean Hagan | Communications Director & Producer

Institute for the Future

Jeannie Swanson | Program Administrator

Institute for the Future

Jeff Burgan | Communications Manager

Institute for the Future

Jeff oversees institutional and programmatic communications, event planning, web presence, research project messaging, and assists with production management.

Before joining IFTF, Jeff worked at EPRI (Electric Power Research
Institute), with over ten years of research communications and project management experience for the Nuclear and Fossil Generation programs. He graduated from Saint Mary's College (Moraga, CA) with a B.A in business.

Jessica Hemerly | Research Manager, Technology Horizons

Institute for the Future

As a Research Manager for the Technology Horizons program, Jess is interested in the future of media, particularly music, and how new technologies will shape the way we make, access, share, and appreciate media content. She covers the San Francisco music scene for TheOwlMag and her own blog, SFJukebox and has participated in panels sponsored by the Bandwidth Conference and the Bay Area Video Coalition.

Joined 05.01.07

Lisa Mumbach | Editorial Assistant

Institute for the Future

Lisa serves as the editorial assistant in IFTF's production department. She edits various deliverables and helps to organize the flow of projects that runs through IFTF at all times. In addition to her work as an editor, Lisa supports the Director of Communications in any way needed. Her interests lie in all things language-related: literature, editing, writing, etc. Lisa holds a BA in English literature, with a specialization in 18th Century British fiction, from Mills College in Oakland, CA.

Joined 05.01.07

Lynne Postlethwaite | Chief Financial Officer / Director of Operations

Institute for the Future

Lynne Postlethwaite grew up in Salinas, California, a seminal agricultural area on the west coast. She learned early on of the fragility of the food supply and how important it is to safeguard the planet.

Marina Gorbis | Executive Director, Institute for the Future and Director, Technology Horizons Program

Institute for the Future

A native of Odessa, Ukraine, Marina is particularly suited to see things from a global perspective. She has directed international programs and led international development projects for SRI (formerly Stanford Research Institute) in China, Japan, Vietnam, India, and Eastern Europe. Marina has also authored publications on international business and economics, with an emphasis on regional innovation and competitiveness.

Miriam Lueck | Research Manager, Health Horizons Program

Institute for the Future

Miriam Lueck is a researcher in the Health Horizons program and across other projects at the Institute, contributing to a broad range of research tasks. She began interning with the Institute in 2003. As an ethnographer, her overarching interest lies in how people individually and collectively exert agency and embody the change described in forecasts, in their everyday lives. More specifically she explores how food connects people to each other, to their health and bodies, and to natural and built environments.

Neela Nuristani | Program Coordinator, Health Horizons Program

Institute for the Future

Neela works closely with the Research Managers on the Health Horizon team, and assists in areas of need with the research. She also provides administrative support for the Program Director, and day-to-day coordination and support for the Health Horizon team. Neela enjoys helping out the communities in need, which is why she has given her time in doing volunteer work at Planned Parenthood, Good Samaritan Hospital, and interned at Breathe California. Neela holds a B.S in Health Science, with a focus of Community Health Promotion, from San Jose State University.

Rachel Maguire | Research Manager, Health Horizons Program

Institute for the Future

At IFTF, Rachel is a research manager for the Health Horizons Program. Rachel’s research interests include migration and health, the global trade of health services, the global portability of health and pension benefits, and the international movement of health professionals. At IFTF, Rachel conducts research on the ways new media and mobile technologies inform health care practices and deliver care, specializing on mobile technologies and access to digital content in Latin America.

Rod Falcon | Director, Health Horizons Program

Institute for the Future

Born in Oakland, California in a time and place of great social change, Rod Falcon attended nearby UC Berkeley to better understand what was happening. There he studied history and social change as an undergraduate and public policy as a graduate student. After working one summer enforcing the Voting Rights Act for the Justice Department, he realized that public policy was not as future oriented as it might be and was inspired to do something about it. He came to IFTF to forecast the future of the California health care safety net and has stayed on for more than a decade and counting.

Sean Ness | Business Development Manager

Institute for the Future

A self-described nerd growing up, Sean read all he could about science as a kid, and immersed himself in maps for hours at a time. He also set his chemistry set on fire a few times, took junior high computer classes on a TRS-80, and was on his high school ecology team. In college, he switched from mechanical engineering to polymer science when he learned that polymer grads often went on to technical sales. The idea of technical sales piqued his interest, and an entrepreneur was born.

Joined 09.19.04

Tessa Finlev | Program Manager, Ten Year Forecast

Institute for the Future

Vivian Distler | Research Manager, Health Horizons Program

Institute for the Future

Vivian brings to the Health Horizons Program extensive experience as a researcher, editor, and project manager. She has also worked in the health care field, primarily in pediatrics. Her interests in health care are focused on the provision of services to children, both regionally and globally, and in terms of well-child, acute care and palliative care. Vivian graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in broadcasting & film and a B.A. in history. She also has a J.D.