Up & Comers - 2015

Dr. Mandy Cohen, chief of staff at the CMS, has been a leader in establishing and stabilizing the health insurance marketplaces that represent much of the public face of the Affordable Care Act.

"This is an amazing accomplishment," she said. "We've touched millions of lives."

Role model: My mother, who raised three children while working full time.

Leadership philosophy: Prioritization

Something surprising: I sang at the presidential palace in Taiwan as part of a singing group at Cornell.

Cohen was named chief of staff in February and has been with the CMS for five years. She is a day-to day policy leader focused on alternative payment models, quality standards and the use of health information technology. Previously at the CMS, she was director of stakeholder engagement at the Innovation Center and principal deputy director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.

After receiving her medical degree and her master's degree in public health, Cohen trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "I chose to get more deeply involved in public policy to have a large-scale impact on the healthcare system," she said.

CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt said Cohen has shown impressive leadership capabilities. "She takes her role as a public servant seriously, and many other government employees rely on her for her expertise." --Shannon Muchmore