Key Staff

Allan Coukell, Director

EMAIL:  acoukell@pewtrusts.org

The director of the Pew Prescription Project, Allan Coukell practiced as a clinical pharmacist in oncology and bone-marrow transplant at the Victoria Hospital and London Regional Cancer Center in London, Ontario. He was subsequently a senior medical writer with the medical journal publisher Adis International, part of the Wolters-Kluwer group of companies. He spent a decade in journalism, most recently as health and science reporter for WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station. He has written for The Economist and the New York Times, among others publications, and received a 2007 Edward R Murrow Award for hard news reporting.

Gabrielle Cosel, Senior Associate

EMAIL:  gcosel@pewtrusts.org

As a Senior Associate with the Pew Prescription Project in Boston, Gabrielle works on federal drug inspection and safety initiatives and coordinates the federal campaigns on appropriate prescribing.  Prior to joining the Project, Gabrielle worked in grassroots development and capacity-building with the Fund for Public Interest Research in Cambridge, MA. She also spent three years working for Houghton Mifflin Publishers in Boston. Gabrielle holds an MSc in Human Rights from London School of Economics (2007) and a BA from Yale University (2002).

Community Catalyst Staff

Community Catalyst established Prescription Project with funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts, in 2006. Community Catalyst staff continue to work in support of Pew Prescription Project goals and objectives.

Marcia Hams, Director, Prescription Access and Quality

EMAIL: mhams@communitycatalyst.org

Marcia Hams is the Director of Prescription Access and Quality at Community Catalyst (www.communitycatalyst.org). Ms. Hams has worked for over twenty years to expand access to quality, affordable health care through her work at Community Catalyst and its partner organization, Health Care For All, one of the most influential state consumer health organizations in the country. She was HCFA’s Deputy Director for Programs and responsible for policy development, campaign organizing and legislative advocacy on a wide range of issues, including children’s health, Medicaid, managed care, community benefits and health reform. In 1996 she managed HCFA’s survey research and program to develop the Massachusetts Fishing Partnership Health Plan.  She completed her doctoral coursework in health policy at the Brandeis University Heller School and holds a M.A. from Boston University and a B.A. from Pomona College, Claremont, CA.

Robert Restuccia, Executive Director

EMAIL: rrestuccia@communitycatalyst.org

Head of the Prescription Project from 2007-2009, Rob continues to provide strategic guidance to the campaign.  He was a founder of Health Care For All, Inc. in Massachusetts and became its Executive Director in 1989.  Under Rob’s leadership, Health Care For All became one of the largest and most effective state consumer health care organizations in the country.  While director, he both developed and led successful multi-stakeholder campaigns to expand state coverage programs and institute significant health care reform within Massachusetts.  His work has served as a model for state and national health care policy change.   In 2000, Rob became the Executive Director of Community Catalyst.  Under his direction, Community Catalyst has established an impressive track record working with low income communities and state and local partners to achieve health care reforms in more than 40 states. 

Rob has an undergraduate degree from Harvard and an M.P.A from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.  He is an adjunct professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and has taught there for 15 years.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the Herndon Alliance, Health Care For All, Massachusetts Health Policy Institute, and the Commonwealth Care Alliance. Rob has been a recipient of numerous awards for his work in health care reform, including the Families USA Health Care Advocate of the Year Award.

Kathy Melley, Director of Communications

EMAIL:   kmelley@communitycatalyst.org

As Director of Communications for Community Catalyst, Kathy also provides strategic communications and media relations support to the Pew Prescription Project. She has more than 15 years of experience working in the nonprofit, corporate and government sectors. Prior to joining the Prescription Project, Kathy served as Director of External Affairs at Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries in Boston, where she oversaw public relations, special events, and government relations. She also worked in public relations at Brodeur, a Boston-based PR agency, and served as a policy analyst in the Massachusetts State Senate. Kathy has a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an M.S. from Boston University’s College of Communication.

Kate Petersen, Communications Coordinator

EMAIL:   kpetersen@communitycatalyst.org

Kate Petersen is the communications coordinator for the Prescription Project and Community Catalyst. She holds a B.A. in English and the History of Science from Arizona State University.  Previously, she was a freelance reporter and columnist for the Arizona Republic and the San Diego Business Journal, and a biosciences writer for the Flinn Foundation in Phoenix. Kate has published stories and essays in literary journals and anthologies including Best of the Web 2009, The Iowa Review, Brevity, Phoebe, and Quarterly West.

Ian Reynolds, Program Associate for Rx Initiatives and Research

EMAIL:   ireynolds@communitycatalyst.org

As Program Associate for Community Catalyst’s Prescription Access and Quality team, Ian Reynolds coordinates states prescription drug initiatives. Ian joined Community Catalyst in April of 2007, after serving two years as a Peace Corps community health worker with the Red Crescent Society in Turkmenistan.  Ian received his B.S. from the University of Michigan in cellular and molecular biology in 2004, and is currently a Community Scholar in the Boston University M.P.H. program.

Wells Wilkinson, Director, Prescription Access Litigation

As Director of Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) at Community Catalyst, Wells Wilkinson produces legal analyses and materials for the Pew Prescription Project related to prescription drug and device company practices, FDA authority, and public policy.  He coordinates PAL's work to end illegal pharmaceutical industry tactics, including overseeing PAL's involvement in over a dozen pharmaceutical class action lawsuits, while coordinating PAL's coalition of over 130 consumer advocacy organizations, and its public education activities.  Prior to joining PAL, he prepared disability claims for hearings at the Social Security Administration while starting a small private practice focusing on consumer protection.  During his time in law school, Wells helped draft legislation regulating non-profit financial governance while interning with the Attorney-General’s Public Charities Division, and he later investigated discrimination claims for the Cambridge Human Rights Commission.  Wells was active in local grassroots political work from 1991 to 2001, working on peace, health care reform, globalization, community and youth organizing. He holds a B.A. in Biology from Boston University, and a law degree from New England School of Law.