Gail R. Bellamy, PhD

Director of Community Studies,
Associate Director in the West Virginia University Health Science Center Eastern Division
WV Institute for Health Policy Research

Dr. Bellamy joined the Institute for Health Policy Research in January 2002. She holds academic positions as an associate director in the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center Eastern Division and as an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the School of Rural Public Health at Texas A&M University. Dr. Bellamy is currently providing project coordination support for the Pediatric Preventive Oral Health Project and is the staff coordinator for the West Virginia Oral Health Policy Task Force. She is also overseeing the evaluation of the Transportation for Health Project funded through the West Virginia Southern Rural Health Access Project/ Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Prior to her position with the Institute, Dr. Bellamy was the director of community research and program development for Scott and White Memorial Hospital. She also held academic positions in both the College of Medicine Department of Family Medicine and the School of Rural Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management at the Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center. Prior to joining Scott and White, she was a senior Medicaid Policy Analyst for the Texas Department of Human Services.

Dr. Bellamy has held leadership positions in state and national health associations. Most recently she completed her term as President of the National Rural Health Association and begins a term on the Governing Council of the American Public Health Association in November 2002. She is the Public Health Crossroads Topic Editor for the Journal of Rural Health. Her area(s) of research interest and expertise cover both policy and programmatic factors promoting or inhibiting access to care for rural and underserved populations. Gail has spoken and published extensively on health policy.

Dr. Bellamy received her baccalaureate degree in Psychology from UCLA, her masters in psychology from Pepperdine University, and her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (formerly School of Hygiene and Public Health).