Ellen Beckjord, PhD

Vice President, Population Health and Clinical Optimization • UPMC Health Plan

Dr. Beckjord is a behavioral scientist, epidemiologist, and licensed clinical psychologist in disciplined pursuit of harnessing the power of connectivity to promote authentic connection to place health, peace, and abundance within equal reach of all.

She did her doctoral training in clinical psychology at the University of Vermont and the Vanderbilt-VA internship consortium and her post-doctoral work in the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program. At NCI, Dr. Beckjord worked in the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch and received a Masters in Public Health focused on Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. From NCI, Dr. Beckjord spent three years in research consulting (RAND Corporation) and five years in academic medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and Hillman Cancer Center. In February 2015, she joined UPMC Health Plan where she serves as Vice President of Population Health and Clinical Optimization.

In 2021, she was named one of 13 “Emerging Health Leaders” by Managed Healthcare Executive and a Ragan Top Women in Wellness and HR Awardee for Behavioral Health. Her current work is focused on behavioral science, population health, and the use of digital tools in clinical operations to promote health, wellness, and health behavior change.