The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) has permanently appointed Elisabeth (Lis) Handley as the Director of ORI and Dr. Wanda Jones as the Associate Director, Research and Scientific Integrity in addition to her Deputy Director role in the office.

Ms. Handley had been serving as interim Director of ORI since August 2019. She brings rich and diverse leadership experience from within HHS. She was Deputy Center Director and Acting Director of the Center for Program Integrity at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  She previously conducted evaluations and inspections in the Office of Inspector General. Ms. Handley's knowledge of research and grants emanates from her work running the National Cancer Institute’s Office of Liaison Activities and her role as the Deputy National Coordinator for Operations at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Additionally, she was involved in grant making and policy for community health centers at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Her leadership directing CMS’ Office of Human Capital led to a decrease in the time to hire and multiple new developmental and training programs for staff there. She began her federal career as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Social Security Administration, after receiving a master’s degree in public administration from Florida State University.

Dr. Jones has been serving in ORI since December 2017. She has served in many leadership positions within OASH over the years, including Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and head of our Office on Women’s Health. Before that, she led the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Office of Women’s Health. Dr. Jones served as the U.S. Principal Delegate to the Inter-American Commission on Women from October 2008 to May 2019. When she initially joined CDC, Dr. Jones led domestic and international laboratory training efforts in HIV/AIDS testing and laboratory methods development, and later moved to a science advisory role in HIV/AIDS policy at CDC, where she focused on policies related to neonatal screening, women and HIV/AIDS, vaccine development and HIV reporting.