Lauren S. Hughes 

Lauren S. Hughes, MD, MPH, MSc, MHCDS, FAAFP, is the state policy director of the Farley Health Policy Center and an associate professor of family medicine, both at the University of Colorado, where she researches how to strengthen primary care infrastructure and transform rural health care delivery. Dr. Hughes previously served as deputy secretary for health innovation in the Pennsylvania Department of Health, where she launched the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model. Dr. Hughes is a former chair of the American Board of Family Medicine. In 2018, she was named a Presidential Leadership Scholar by Presidents Clinton and Bush, and in 2023, she was named as the co-chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Standing Committee on Primary Care.