Leadership

Dr. Aditi Mallick

Acting Director

Aditi Mallick, M.D. is the Acting Director of the CMS Office of Minority Health (OMH), whose mission is to lead the advancement and integration of health equity in the development, evaluation, and implementation of CMS’s policies, programs, and partnerships. Prior to joining OMH, Dr. Mallick served as Chief Medical Officer for the CMS Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, where she led the Center’s clinical strategy and cross-center work on health equity, social determinants of health, and innovation in whole-person care among other areas.

Before joining CMCS, Dr. Mallick led the COVID-19 Response Command Center for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) where she oversaw strategic and operational efforts around vaccination, testing, case investigation, and contact tracing statewide. A core focus of her COVID-19 work was ensuring equitable access and improving outcomes for historically marginalized populations.

Her previous experience includes working closely with a range of healthcare stakeholders across the public and private sectors – including state Medicaid agencies, provider organizations, managed care organizations, and other payors – focusing on strategy, innovation, and data-driven change implementation. Her prior federal experience also includes serving as a Senior Medical Advisor in the Office of the Administrator at CMS, where she focused on MACRA implementation, value-based payment in Medicare fee-for-service, clinician engagement, and clinician burden reduction.

Dr. Mallick continues to care for patients and brings that experience to her work at CMS. She earned her A.B. with honors from Harvard College, her M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine, and completed internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Pamela J. Gentry

Deputy Director

Pamela J. Gentry is the Deputy Director of the Office of Minority Health (OMH) for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, at the Department of Health and Human Services.  Gentry’s works to advance the agency’s commitment to and investment in health equity for underserved populations, including policy and program innovation to advance health equity.

Gentry led the agency’s team to plan and execute the first Annual CMS Health Equity Conference and is the champion of the long standing OMH Minority Research Grant Program. The grant program is designed to make strategic investments in health care research aimed at advancing CMS’s goal of mitigating barriers to health equity.

As senior advisor to OMH, she focused on outreach and education for minority communities and the development and execution of national education and outreach campaigns for Medicare, Medicaid, Healthcare Marketplace and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Gentry returned to federal service in 2010 after eight years as senior manager in broadcast and online media for BET Networks.  She created BET’s first online political blog in 2005, “Pamela on Politics.” In 2009 she became the networks senior political analyst responsible for the daily coverage of the White House and legislative activity on Capitol Hill.  Prior to BET she worked for C-SPAN, W*USA-TV Channel 9 in Washington, D.C., and provided political commentary for various national and international news networks and was a guest political blogger on The Huffington Post.

Meena Abraham, DrPH, MPH

Director, Policy & Program Alignment Group

Meena Abraham, DrPH, MPH, is the Director of the Program Alignment and Partner Engagement Group (PAPEG) in the CMS Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH). PAPEG is responsible for working across CMS programs, policies, models, and demonstrations to ensure that the needs of minority and underserved populations are met.

She comes to OMH from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) where she served as Deputy Director at the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), providing oversight for planning, staff engagement and professional development, and program performance management, and later Senior Advisor in the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, supporting policy and program initiatives across the agency.

Dr. Abraham began her federal career at CMS’ Innovation Center in 2014 as Director of the Division of Health Care Models managing a portfolio of Health Care Innovation Awards and Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns model. She then served as Senior Advisor in the Learning and Diffusion Group working on stakeholder engagement, quality improvement, and clinician workforce development, with an emphasis on sustainability of care delivery adaptations, including ones implemented in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

Prior to entering federal service, Dr. Abraham held executive positions at the Maryland State Medical Society, Maryland State Department of Health, and Baltimore City Health Department, where she established public health and quality initiatives on a range of topics, including maternal and perinatal outcomes, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, and substance use disorder. A key focus throughout her career has been to bring together the patient, provider, and institutional perspectives to inform health policy development and design health system adaptations.

Dr. Abraham earned Master of Public Health and Doctor of Public Health degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland.

Meagan T. Khau

Director, Data Analytics & Research Group

Meagan Khau is the Director of the Data and Policy Analytics Group (DPAG) at CMS OMH. DPAG conducts research, data collection, and analyses to identify targets to reduce health disparities and improve quality of care, care transitions, access to care, and beneficiary satisfaction for populations at higher risk. DPAG is also involved in developing and implementing initiatives and data analyses to support cross-component/cross-agency collaborations to improve data collection, analysis, and reporting of race and ethnicity, primary language, disability, gender, and other characteristics associated with health disparities.

Prior to joining CMS OMH, Meagan was the Deputy Director of the Division of Pharmacy in the Center for the Medicaid and CHIP Services, managing the operations of the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, supporting system developments, ensuring program compliance, and implementing new policies and regulations.

Meagen received her Master of Health Administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of California, Irvine.

Sherry Armstead

Director, Business Operations Services & Engagement Group

Sherry Armstead is the Group Director of the Business Operations Services and Engagement Group (BOSEG) in the Office of Minority Health (OMH). Sherry came to CMS in 2000 as a Presidential Management Intern (a Presidential Management Fellow). During her time at CMS, Sherry gained extensive experience working on Medicare payment policy in the Center for Medicare (CM) and as a Technical Director in the Center for Medicaid and Chip Services (CMCS) Business Operations. In addition, Sherry served as the Deputy Director of the Division of Budget Formulation and Presentation in CMS’s Office of Financial Management (OFM), providing oversight and guidance on the Agency’s annual budget.

Since 2016, Sherry has worked in the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ). She served in an Executive Leadership role as the Deputy Group Director for the Business Operations Group (BOG). Before coming to CMS, Sherry worked in the private sector as a Financial Manager with Seton Medical Group, a Division of St. Agnes Hospital, and as a Financial Analyst at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland.

Sherry earned her Bachelor’s degree in Finance from George Washington University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Healthcare Management from the University of Baltimore.