Jill Sells, EDC distinguished scholar and pediatrician, is a national leader in policies, systems, and programs at the intersection of health and early childhood. A dedicated champion for health equity, she brings extensive expertise in integrating health into state early childhood plans and engaging health professionals in early childhood systems building.
Sells is the medical advisor for EDC’s National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety (NCHBHS), which supports Head Start programs nationwide. She leads NCHBHS’s COVID-19 Expert Work Group, which delivers webinars and other health-related resources to support programs and families during the pandemic.
Nationally, Sells has partnered across disciplines to advocate for and advance systems, policy, and program efforts to promote early child health and development through the medical home and community-based early childhood systems. She is passionate about partnerships that center children and families, build from community strengths, and strive to eliminate inequities, especially related to race, ethnicity, language, and culture.
Sells holds an MD from the University of Washington School of Medicine and a BA from Stanford University.