The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has selected Kameron Matthews, MD, JD, FAAFP as the 2018 James C. Puffer, MD/American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Fellow. Dr. Matthews currently serves as Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Health for Community Care at the Veterans Health Administration in Washington, DC. She is one of three outstanding health professionals selected for the class of 2018 NAM Fellows.

Dr. Matthews earned her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and her law degree from the University of Chicago. She completed her residency in Family Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Matthews has focused her career on underserved patient populations, having worked as a staff physician at Cook County Jail and with Erie Family Health Center, a large community health center also in Chicago. She most recently served as Chief Medical Officer of Mile Square Health Center within the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System. Dr. Matthews’ honors and awards include the National Medical Quality Forum's 2017 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health, 2015 National Medical Association Council for the Concerns of Women Physicians Emerging Trailblazer Award, the 2015 NACHC Health Professions Education and Training Award, and the 2015 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Health Braintrust Congressman Louis Stokes Public Health Advocate Award.

Dr. Matthews serves as a member of the advisory board of the National Medical Quality Forum, a founding board member of Physicians for Criminal Justice Reform, a member of the alumni council of National Medical Fellowships, and an analyst with PolicyPrescriptions.org. Her career interests focus on access to care, pipeline workforce development, and healthcare disparities. As a passion outside of work, she co-directs the Tour for Diversity in Medicine, an initiative seeking to bring premedical enrichment activities to minority high school and undergraduate students across the country.

As a Puffer/ABFM/NAM Anniversary Fellow, Dr. Matthews will receive a research stipend of $25,000. Named in honor of James C. Puffer, M.D., president and chief executive officer of the ABFM, the fellowship program enables talented, early career health policy and science scholars in family medicine to participate in the work of the Academies and further their careers as future leaders in the field. The James C. Puffer, MD/ABFM Fellowship was established under the NAM Fellowship program in 2011.

NAM Anniversary Fellows continue their main responsibilities while engaging part-time over a two-year period in the Academies’ health and science policy work. A committee appointed by the president of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) selects fellows based on their professional accomplishments, potential for leadership in health policy in the field of family medicine, reputation as scholars, and the relevance of their expertise to the work of NAM and the IOM.