Office of Health Equity

Michelle Hutchinson, USA(RET), SPHR
Executive Assistant

Michelle Hutchinson, USA(RET), SPHR, is the Executive Assistant in the Office of Health Equity. She began this role in November of 2023.

Michelle joined VA in 2018 where she began as a Human Resources Specialist in Workforce Management supporting Organizational Assessments and consulting with leadership teams on Organizational Health. She has also spent time as a Manpower Analyst in Workforce Management and Consulting (WMC). From January 2021 until starting her role in the Office of Health Equity she served as an Administrative Officer in the Office of Patient Care Services, (PCS) where she was as an HR Liaison between various PCS Program Offices and servicing HR Teams.

Michelle is a US Army Veteran, she served 4 years in the Washington Army National Guard and as an active-duty Soldier for over 11 years. During her time on Active duty, she was a Human Resources Officer responsible for serving as leaderships primary advisor on all things Human Resources and providing personnel support to the Soldiers within her Organizations.  

Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington State University, a master’s degree in human resources management from Webster University, and has held and maintained her Senior Professional in Human Resources certification since 2018.

Lauren Korshak, DHealth, MS, ACSM-CEP
Director of Education

Dr. Lauren Korshak is the Director of Education at OHE. Prior to joining OHE, Lauren worked within VHA to develop and expand VA’s strategic partnerships with nongovernmental organizations that included Amazon, YMCA, United States Tennis Association, (USTA), and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 100 Million Healthier Lives Initiative, as well as with community Choice providers to ensure that Veterans were connected to treatment in their communities as well as within their VA Medical Centers. 

Lauren practiced as a physiologist at the Washington, DC VA Medical Center, where she oversaw the exercise and stress management components of the Lifestyle Intervention for Veterans (LIVe) Program at the Washington, DC VA Medical Center, a holistic program aimed at providing intensive diabetes management through lifestyle interventions as an adjunct to traditional medication therapy, and was engaged in epidemiology, systems redesign, and clinical research.

Lauren holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. She has Doctor of Health degree from the University of Bath in England. Lauren is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Maryland.  She explores and has published on the relationships between chronic disease, exercise capacity and mortality.  Lauren has been interviewed by television news and radio channels about the importance of engaging in healthy behaviors.  

Lauren E. Russell, MPP, MPH
Health System Specialist, ACORN Co-Lead

Ashley L. Bowman, MPA, MSHI
Health System Specialist

Ashley L. Bowman, MPA, MSHI, is a Health System Specialist. In this role, she utilizes data analysis, research findings, and evaluation projects to support the advancement of health and healthcare equity for patients impacted by disparities. She previously led access, productivity, and efficiency efforts as Ambulatory Care Operations Director.

Ashley is a graduate of College of Charleston. Following graduation, she served in the United States Navy, beginning her career as a Communications Officer and concluding as an Executive Officer. After her military service, she earned both a Master of Public Administration and a Master of Science in Health Informatics. She has dedicated her career to public service, accumulating over 20 years of experience across various sectors, including military, government, public universities, and community organizations.

Ashley's professional interests include the use and development of data-driven decision support tools in the public sector, such as electronic health records, clinical decision support, and machine learning in healthcare.

Shane Lamba, MPH
Health System Specialist

Shane Lamba is a Health System Specialist with OHE where he works on data, research, and evaluation projects centered on principles of health equity for Veterans. Prior to joining OHE, he was a Health Science Specialist at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System’s Spinal Cord Injuries/Disorders Center, conducting qualitative research understanding the barriers to care and psychosocial health outcomes for Veterans with SCI. Before his qualitative work, at the SCI/D Center he was involved with a VA Cooperative Studies Program, multi-site exoskeleton-assisted walking device clinical trial. While working as a Health Science Specialist, Shane was a Health Equity Fellow with OHE, developing his interest in food insecurity, obesity, and lifestyle behaviors.  Much of his experience is rooted in qualitative methods and clinical research, he hopes to utilize those skills when thinking about health equity and what that means for health education interventions.

Shane holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology & Physiology from the University of British Columbia. And recently, he completed his Master of Public Health with a focus in Health Education & Promotion from the University of New England, and has been inducted as a member of the Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society Gamma Chi Chapter for his academic excellence and public health service. Shane’s interests include understanding how institutional/systemic factors impact Veteran health, as well as program development to promote health equity.

Sarah Leder, MSW
Health System Specialist

Sarah Leder, MSW (she/her) is a Health Systems Specialist with the Veterans Health Administration’s Office of Health Equity (OHE). In her role, she focuses on data, research, and evaluation initiatives that support the advancement of health and healthcare equity for groups of minority Veterans, including female Veterans, impacted by disparities.

Recently, Sarah has concentrated on the social determinants and drivers of health and their influence on Veteran health outcomes. She leads the development and ongoing maintenance of the Assessing Circumstances and Offering Resources for Needs (ACORN) Dashboard, a tool that assists clinical teams in identifying and responding to Veterans' social risks and needs. The dashboard enables the tracking of resources and referrals provided to Veterans who screen positive for social needs through ACORN.

In addition, Sarah collaborates with VHA program offices and clinical teams to support health equity–focused data requests, helping the health system uncover and address gaps in care and health disparities across Veteran populations. Sarah earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan and began her federal career as a Presidential Management Fellow with the Veterans Health Administration.

Eve (Chava) Sonnier, BS, LPN, MS, PCMHCCE
Health System Specialist

Eve (Chava) Sonnier is a Health Systems Specialist with OHE where she works on data, research, and evaluation projects to better understand and address health equity issues for Veterans. Prior to joining OHE, Chava spent the past decade working in clinical informatics in the FQHC sector, utilizing data analytics to address health disparities for community health patients. Chava has also managed FQHCs, with a specific focus on overseeing the startup of new health centers for medically underserved populations. Before focusing on data-driven health equity quality improvement, Chava worked clinically as a nurse in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Chava holds a Master of Science in Organizational Development in addition to her undergraduate degrees in nursing, English literature, and biochemistry.

Rachel Chandra, PharmD, MPH, FASHP 
Pharmacoequity Lead

Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner
PGY-1 Program Director
VA Dayton Healthcare System
VALOR-QI Site Clinical Champion

Michelle S. Wong, PhD

Michelle S. Wong is a Health Science Specialist at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System’s Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation & Policy (CSHIIP). Her research interests are in health equity and social determinants of health, including how healthcare systems can address social determinants as a means to improve health equity. She has been involved in Office of Health Equity – QUERI Partnered Evaluation Initiative (PEI) to examine and address racial/ethnic disparities in the VA healthcare system. Her most recent work with the PEI includes several first-authored publications that examined racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 testing, infection, and mortality, as well as an exploration of social determinants that may explain these disparities. Her prior research has examined the relationship between social determinants—including neighborhoods, family, and housing policies—and racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in obesity-related outcomes and behaviors.

She has previously worked at the Brookings Institution and as a management consultant at IMS Health (now IQVIA). She received her PhD in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health from the Department of Health Policy and Management and a BS from Yale University in Molecular Biochemistry & Biophysics.

Margaret Viboolsittiseri, M.A.

Margaret Viboolsittiseri is a Veteran, Army spouse, and artist who works as a Military Education Coordinator serving six military installations throughout the island of O’ahu. Margaret earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in liberal studies with a capstone that focused on healing moral injuries and traumas with art. As a VHA Office of Health Equity fellow, her aim is to assist the military community with the creation of therapeutic art and writing programs that aid health and wellness.

Margaret has a debut with Paper View Books and has contributed to dozens of anthologies, including ‘My teeth don’t chew on shrapnel’: an anthology of poetry by military veterans (Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre, 2020), available as a free download with helpful prompts for veterans’ art and poetry workshops. Selected exhibitions include Honolulu Printmakers at the Downtown Art Center in Honolulu, HI, L’Air Arts in Atelier 11 at Cité Falquière, the Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, Honfleur Gallery in Historic Anacostia, Dulles International Art Gallery in Dulles, VA, the Library of Congress and Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, DC.