Steering Committee

Dr. Wayne Altman is the Jaharis Family Chair and Professor of Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Altman has received 35 teaching awards and citations during his 27 years at Tufts. He has also been recognized as a Boston Top Doc 14 times. Dr. Altman served as the FM Clerkship Director for 17 years and has directed the Foundations of Patient Care Curriculum since 2009. 

Dr. Altman’s research interests include health policy, wellness group visits, medical education, medical scribes, and vaccine hesitancy. 

Dr. Altman practices at Family Practice Group (FPG) in Arlington where he is President and co-owner of the practice. At FPG, Dr. Altman has co-led close to 100 Wellness Groups over 16 years. He is the Co-Founder of Wellness Campaign, a non-profit created to promote wellness in communities, as well as with patients and clinicians. 

Dr. Altman cofounded Care That Matters, a multi-disciplinary group of health care professionals across the country advocating for pay for performance quality measures that are both patient-centered and evidence-based. 

Dr. Altman is the founder of MAPCAP (MA Primary Care Alliance for Patients) which advocates for health policy that features an emphasis on Social Determinants of Health, health equity, a prospective global payment for primary care, and the doubling of primary care investment. 

Dr. Altman is a Board member and Vice President for the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians and serves as their Legislative Committee Chair. He was presented with the 2023 Advocacy Award by the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Altman is also Chair of the Advocacy Committee and Board member for the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM).

Joel is the Advocacy and Political Director for the Committee to Protect Health Care, a national mobilization of over 40,000 medical professionals fighting to ensure everyone in the United States has the health care they need to thrive.

A candidate campaign staffer with experience in national volunteer organizing, campaign strategy, and fundraising & development, his passion for health care organizing began during the 2018 election cycle while working with a candidate ardently committed to achieving universal health care. 

Joel joined the Committee to Protect Health Care as the first staff-person in 2019, charged with building the organization’s network of advocacy-minded medical professionals. Since joining the team, Joel has worked across departments, helping to build communications and organizing campaigns, operations infrastructure, and a national campaign to celebrate pro-patient candidates in key races across the country.

Joel enjoys playing and seeing live music; outdoor activities like (disc) golf, fly fishing, and pickleball; and spending as much time on Lake Michigan as the weather allows. Joel currently resides in Michigan with his lovely partner, a cat named Meatloaf, and a dog named Sadie Sue.

Jason is a medical student at UMass Chan Medical School. He is passionate about primary care with particular interests in addiction medicine and social justice. He is actively involved in free clinics and community health initiatives, where he focuses on expanding access to care and strengthening connections between healthcare systems and the communities they serve. Jason is particularly interested in mental health and addressing social determinants of health through collaborative, community-driven approaches.

Andrea Fellerman Kesack, M.D. has been advocating for moderation and evidence-based medicine since 2016 as both a Republican voter against Trump and as a physician, who is pro-vaccination and pro-choice. She is a board certified clinical pathologist with a residency in both anatomic and clinical pathology. She completed medical school at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, first year of residency at Georgetown University Hospital in Pathology, and completed the remainder in the Dept of Pathology of Albany Medical Center. Andrea’s career was in pharmaceutical industry developing oncologic drugs and vaccines both in clinical trials and drug safety before retiring in 2024. Andrea resides in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband, Craig Kesack M.D. and is a mom with three children in their twenties.