Lauren Russell is a Health System Specialist for the Office of Health Equity at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Before starting this role, Lauren served as a Research Associate with the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Initially, after graduation from the Batten School at the University of Virginia in 2017, Lauren worked for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs New England Healthcare System as a Presidential Management Fellow, then as the Regional Access Co-Lead. While there, she co-developed and served as the implementation lead for the VA social risk screening and referral initiative, “Assessing Circumstances & Offering Resources for Needs” (ACORN). She continues to serve as a Co-Lead for ACORN. Lauren obtained her Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and she earned both her Master of Public Policy and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia.