Alonzo L. Plough is the chief science officer and vice president of Research-Evaluation-Learning at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Plough has had a distinguished career in public health practice, academia, and philanthropy. His work focuses on improving health and well-being, and achieving health equity. Plough serves as a board member for many health and social welfare organizations. Thomas A. LaVeist is Dean and Weatherhead Presidential Chair in Health Equity at Tulane University, Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He seeks to develop an orienting framework in the development of policy and interventions to address race disparities in health-related outcomes. Specific areas of expertise include: U.S. health and social policy, the role of race in health research, social factors contributing to mortality, longevity and life expectancy, quantitative and demographic analysis and access, and utilization of health services.