Neil Thakur PhD

A public health expert, Neil leads strategic change for large health systems and research funders to strengthen outcomes aligned with their vision and mission. He works with key stakeholders at the federal government, healthcare organizations, national associations and universities to improve meaningful service and treatment outcomes. He is the founder and principal of Thakur Health Sciences, LLC

Previously, Neil served as The ALS Association’s Chief Mission Officer leading their research, care services, and advocacy programs. He was the chief architect of their plan to make ALS a livable disease by finding new treatments and cures, improving quality of care, and preventing ALS. He helped triple federal investment in ALS research and the number of Association treatment centers of excellence, as well as launching the first research programs in ALS quality of care and prevention. He also helped eliminate the waiting period for people with ALS to get Medicare, and bring new ALS treatments to clinic.

Prior to joining the Association, Neil served in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Director, where he supported NIH governance and helped make NIH research more open and less burdensome. He managed the world’s largest policy to make biomedical research papers publicly accessible and co-chaired the White House task force establishing the requirement that all federal science agencies adopt similar policies. Neil also served on detail to the US Senate Special Committee on Aging, raising awareness about quality issues in long-term health care, particularly around Alzheimer’s care and pharmaceuticals.

Neil also served as the Assistant Director of Health Services Research and Development at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He led an evaluation service for the Veteran’s Health Administration and represented the VA research service in setting clinical performance measures. In his post-doctoral fellowship, he studied the interactions between jails, Medicaid, and behavioral health care, and how changes in health financing impacted people’s utilization of these systems. As a graduate student, Neil worked throughout the Connecticut behavioral health system, helping to implement managed care and health information systems and raise tens of millions of dollars in much needed competitive grants.

Neil has received many awards for his government service, including several NIH Director’s Awards, and the Secretary for Health and Human Services award for Meritorious Service, the second highest award that the Secretary can bestow. He holds a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Yale University School of Public Health and completed an NIMH postdoctoral fellowship in mental health services research at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.