Our Staff

Linda Cummings, PhD
Director, NPHHI
Vice President of Research, NAPH
Dr. Cummings develops and directs the research and quality agendas for both NPHHI and NAPH. Under her leadership, NPHHI has established a substantial research portfolio on a wide range of issues - including quality improvement, patient safety, emergency department throughput, and emergency preparedness - as they relate to safety net hospitals and vulnerable populations. A major priority under the NAPH strategic plan is accelerating the transformation of member organizations to integrated delivery systems. Dr. Cummings is responsible for the research portfolio to support this transformation with a particular focus on quality and performance improvement, innovations in patient care, the financial and operational characteristics of safety net hospitals, health disparities, and health reform implementation. She also manages the activities of the 16-member NPHHI Board of Directors. Dr. Cummings is responsible for grant development to support research and educational initiatives. Over 9 years at NAPH, she has served as P.I. on numerous grant-funded research projects and designed and managed multiple year-long educational programs for senior clinicians and administrators in member hospitals. Her doctorate is in political science with a concentration in American politics and public policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Phone: 202-585-0130

Bianca Perez, PhD
Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Perez is responsible for developing research and data briefs based on the NAPH Safety Network collaborative. She comes to NAPH from the University of Central Florida, where she completed a PhD in public affairs and specialized in health services administration. Dr. Perez recently collaborated with Florida Hospital’s patient safety department to understand the psycho-social barriers to transparency among physicians in an effort to establish a culture of safety. She has published several peer-reviewed articles in the area of health care management and quality improvement.
Phone: 202-585-0126

Brian L. Hurdle, MPH
Senior Research Scientist
Brian L. Hurdle joined NAPH in 2012 as a Sr. Research Scientist. Prior to joining, Brian worked for Westat, an employee-owned research corporation in Rockville, MD, where he served as a health research analyst. Brian has several years of experience in statistical data analysis and qualitative data collection. Brian received a Bachelor’s of Science in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Drexel University with a concentration in Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
Phone: 202-495-3367

Kathryn A. Reid, MPH, CPHQ
Senior Research Associate
Kathryn Reid joined the NAPH research team in October of 2009 as a research associate. Previously, Ms. Reid worked as a maternal and child health researcher for the University of Florida’s School of Medicine and conducted pediatric HIV/AIDS research at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. She holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry and a Master of Public Health degree, with a concentration in Epidemiology, from the University of Florida.
Phone: 202-585-0119

Ricky J. Harrison, MPA, MS
Senior Research Associate
Ricky Harrison joined the NAPH research team in August 2012. Prior to joining the NAPH team, Mr. Harrison worked as a senior research associate at Pew Center on the States, a division of the Pew Charitable Trusts, in Washington, DC. He also worked in the Florida Legislature as a legislative policy analyst and at the Florida Department of Health where he worked as a project manager for health policy research and development. Mr. Harrison brings broad health policy research experience in Medicaid reform, the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, managed care, child welfare, and childhood lead poisoning. He earned his B.S. degree in Political Science and both his Master of Public Administration and Master of Science in Political Science degrees from Florida State University.
Phone: 202-495-3343

Rhonda Gold
Vice President for Finance and Administration/CFO
Rhonda Gold has been employed with NPHHI since 1992. She has over twenty-five years of accounting experience and is a Certified Public Accountant. Her primary responsibilities include providing oversight and managing of all finance, IT, human resources and operational functions of NAPH and NPHHI. Prior to her employment with the organization, she was the Assistant Controller at a large employment agency, an Accounting Manager for two property management companies, an auditor for Marriott Corporation, and an auditor for a large public accounting firm. She graduated on the Dean’s List from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree.
Phone: 202-585-0109