Athena Rae Roesler is a director on the Public Health team at Milken Institute Health, where she leads a portfolio of work focused on prevention and chronic disease. Some of her current projects include accelerating access to pharmacy-based clinical services, scaling food is medicine interventions, and advocating for public health policy. During her time at the Milken Institute, Roesler has authored over a dozen research and policy briefs, designed a survey to measure employer attitudes toward value-based care, and led a partnership with the DC government to leverage food procurement to support nutrition, the environment, and equitable local economies.

Roesler also coordinates the Milken Institute Public Health Advisory Board, which collaborates with the team to catalyze policy, system, and environmental changes in public health. Roesler’s public health experience began literally from the ground up, teaching farm-based nutrition to thousands of students across Arizona, Washington, DC, and South India. She was part of a research team evaluating California’s sugary drink tax and warning label policies. At Leah’s Pantry, a nonprofit supporting California SNAP-Ed, she advanced behavioral economics-based and trauma-informed nutrition security initiatives. Her graduate research focused on the human right to food, a dignified emergency food system, and strategies to reduce health disparities. Roesler holds a Master of Public Health in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in public health and educational studies from American University.