Policy Director
Carolyn Byrnes is the policy director at the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, responsible for creating and maintaining the organization’s policy agenda and plan, researching policy barriers and solutions, monitoring funding opportunities, and offering guidance on writing grant applications, among other roles. Prior to JHF, she served as a senior advisor (2018-2023) and special assistant (2015-2018) 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.