Lori Cook

Lori holds nearly 20 years of experience working to advance health broadly defined. She has dedicated the majority of her career to service in the public sector and academic medicine with a particular focus on population health and health equity.

Prior to joining the Institute, Lori served as Chief of Staff at The University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School (Dell Med). While there, she partnered with leadership to further the strategic, mission-oriented growth of the first medical school to be built at a top tier US research university in nearly 50 years. Lori also collaborated across departments and with key external stakeholders to advance key initiatives of benefit to Central Texas, such as how best to address the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before joining Dell Med, Lori spent more than eight years with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. There, she dedicated herself to health equity, leading San Francisco’s community health improvement efforts and developing programs designed to end chronic homelessness.

In her role at the Meadows Institute, Lori identifies ways to accelerate and amplify innovation partnerships, and she supports the work of Kacie Kelly, Chief Innovation Officer, and the Innovation Team. She works collaboratively with staff, contractors, partner agencies, and stakeholders to cultivate a behavioral health ecosystem of innovation across Texas that can be scaled nationally.

Lori holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Davidson College where she first discovered her passion for mission-driven service. In her spare time, Lori enjoys traveling and having adventures with her husband and daughter. She lives in Austin.