Policy Director
Carolyn Byrnes is the policy director at JHF, responsible for advancing the organization’s policy priorities, researching policy barriers and solutions, monitoring funding opportunities, and offering guidance on grant applications. Byrnes manages the Pennsylvania Perinatal Action Collaborative, a multi-disciplinary group dedicated to unifying and advancing maternal health initiatives throughout the state, and coordinates the Pennsylvania Teen Mental Health Coalition, which advocates for policies and funding to support community-based organizations in providing teen mental health prevention and early intervention services. As policy director she also coordinates the Salk Health Activist Fellowship which helps graduate students and early-stage health professionals who are passionate about social change develop policy and advocacy skills.
Prior to JHF, she served first as special assistant (2015-2018) and then as senior advisor (2018-2023) to the Secretary of Health and Physician General for Pennsylvania. During her time at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Byrnes worked on a myriad of public health issues, including improving maternal and child health, addressing health equity issues, and responding to the opioid epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic. She is a former member of several government boards and committees, including the Pennsylvania Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine, the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, and the PA Perinatal Quality Collaborative’s Advisory Group; as well as director of the PA Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Prior to her time at the Department of Health, Byrnes worked as a Clinical Research Associate at Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Department of Cancer Prevention and Control in Buffalo, NY, managing the daily operations of a research study. She recently served as the public health leader in residence for the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (2022-2023) and continues to guest lecture and mentor public health students. She received her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh, and her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Loyola University Chicago. She is certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners.