IOM Staff Biographies

Lyla M. Hernandez has been a Senior Program Officer with the Institute of Medicine for the past ten years. During that time she has been study director for projects related to Gulf War veterans’ health, public health, complementary and alternative medicine, and genomics. Ms. Hernandez is the recipient of the IOM Cecil Award for research. Prior to joining the IOM, she was Director of the Pharmacy Intelligence Center of the American Pharmaceutical Association where she was responsible for identifying and conducting analyses of health care issues, national programs, and policies that affect pharmacy. She also served as Executive Director of the American Medical Peer Review Organization, the national trade association for organizations evaluating the utilization and quality of medical care. Lyla received her Masters of Public Health degree in medical care administration and health education from the University of California at Berkeley.

Erin S. Hammers is a Research Associate with the Institute of Medicine’s Board on Health Sciences Policy. She completed her Masters of Public Health degree at Columbia University with a focus on socio-medical sciences and health promotion. Prior to completing her M.P.H., Erin served in the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan where she worked in a rural medical clinic, developing and teaching weekly nutrition and hygiene classes, and studying health promotion methodology. She has also worked as legislative field coordinator for People for the American Way and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Alex Repace is a Senior Project Assistant on Board of Health Sciences Policy. Currently, he is supporting the Roundtable on Translating Genomic-Based Research for Health. Prior to coming to Board on Health Sciences Policy, Mr. Repace worked for the Board on Army Science and Technology for the National Research Council. He has a B.S. in microbiology from University of Maryland at College Park and training and experience in public health. Mr. Repace also has experience in research grants administration in the areas of biological and physical sciences.

Andrew Pope, Ph.D., is director of the Board on Health Sciences Policy in the Institute of Medicine. With a Ph.D. in physiology and biochemistry, his primary interests are in science policy, biomedical ethics, and the environmental and occupational influences on human health. During his tenure at the National Academies and since 1989 at the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Pope has directed numerous studies on topics that range from injury control, disability prevention, and biologic markers, to the protection of human subjects of research, NIH priority-setting processes, organ procurement and transplantation policy, and the role of science and technology in countering terrorism. Dr. Pope is the recipient of the NAS President’s Special Achievement Award and the IOM’s Cecil Award.