Toni P. Miles, MD, PhD

During the Health and Aging Policy Fellowship, Dr. Miles served as a staffer on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee (Max Baucus, Chair) working on legislative development of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) workforce provisions as well as health care fraud. Since the appointment, she has used her legislative experience in testimony for state government (Kentucky and Georgia). Currently, she serves as an advisor to the Georgia Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Council. She also works with the faculty of the Institute of Gerontology to infuse policy training into the Gerontology curriculum in public health. In 2014, she co-authored a report that appeared in the Journal of Public Affairs Education. The report described the process of teaching ACA policy in the current politicized climate to students in public policy training programs. Dr. Miles was also previously a Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at University of Georgia-Athens College of Public Health.

Since 2011, she writes for both lay and professional audiences on the intersection between policy and the public health impact of older adults on local communities. These publications include a full length text policy analysis of the ACA – ‘Health care reform and disparities: History, Hype, and Hope.’ (2012, ABC-Clio publisher). It is now a part of the suggested reading list for Congressional Fellows. Several pieces have appeared in New America Media (2014, 2013), the New York Times Room for Debate (2013), USA Today (2012) and the Atlanta Constitution Journal (2012). Other scholarly publications include a chapter on frail elders and their caregivers in disasters (2013, Charles Cefalu, editor) and public health aspects of bereavement care (2014, J Family & Community Health and 2014, J Hospice & Palliative Medicine).