From the Cambridge Health Alliance, Sept. 3: Kimberlyn Leary, chief of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, began a fellowship last month to participate in the 2014-15 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows program. Leary, who also serves as an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, is one of seven people chosen for the yearlong residential fellowship in Washington, D.C., and will contribute to health policy development at the federal level.

“I am delighted that Kim has received this well-deserved recognition,” said Jay Burke, professor and chairman of her department. “This prestigious program is an outstanding opportunity for her to influence policy and connect CHA more deeply with the nation’s health care transformation activities.”

Leary is not new to public health policy. In addition to her roles at the Alliance and medical school, she acts as a senior policy adviser to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, where she works on policy related to neonatal abstinence syndrome, prescriber education, and non-medical use of opioids. Leary’s other clinical and research specializations are on the role of race and culture in clinical treatment, supervision and in organizations. She also focuses on interdisciplinary work at the intersection of clinical practice and conflict management, including the study of influence, innovation and collaborative problem-solving.

Her major areas of teaching, clinical activity and research are directed at enhancing effective clinical practice in psychotherapy and in negotiation and mediation. She holds degrees from Amherst College and the University of Michigan, where she was also a postdoctoral research fellow. In addition, Leary has received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, American Psychoanalytic Association and Committee on Institutional Cooperation. In 2009, she earned a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows program is called the nation’s most prestigious learning experience at the nexus of health science, policy and politics. It invites exceptional mid-career health professionals and behavioral and social scientists to participate in health policy processes at the federal level and gain hands-on policy experience. More than 200 fellows from across the nation have participated in the program since 1973.

Cambridge Health Alliance provides services in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-north communities. It includes three hospital campuses, a network of primary care and specialty practices and the Cambridge Public Health Department.. CHA is a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate and is affiliated with Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine.