Susanne Olkkola, M.Ed., M.P.A.

Senior Advisor

Ms. Olkkola joined the ODP in July 2009. She has been involved with many projects, including developing a new strategic plan for the office and helping coordinate Medicine in the Media, Mind the Gap, and the Consensus Development Conferences. Before coming to the ODP, Ms. Olkkola worked at the University of Arizona, mostly in clinical research, beginning in 1995. There she coordinated the state’s efforts to obtain a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), was Assistant Director of the Clinical and Translational Center (CATS), the clinical research center for the University of Arizona, and served as the Director of the Arizona Women’s Health Initiative Study (WHI). Ms. Olkkola received her bachelor's degree at Sarah Lawrence College, and her graduate degrees from Loyola University-Chicago and the University of Arizona. Although she loved the dry heat of the desert, she is delighted to be in the DC area, where the issues and discussions play out on a national level. And her dog Henry, who is her constant companion, loves running on the grass.