Introducing our 2025 Academic Year Atkins Fellows: Maryssa Pallis and Katherine Veligurskiy

Maryssa Pallis is pursuing a PhD in Gerontology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she also earned a Master of Science (MS) in Gerontology. She holds a dual MBA/MPP from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. She brings to the MLTSS Association expertise in policy analysis, program evaluation, and long-term care policy, including financing, integrated care, informal caregiver supports, and workforce development. She serves as a Graduate Research Assistant at the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, where she conducts research on long-term care policy and economic security in later life, and as a Research Fellow with the National Council on Aging (NCOA). Her research and policy interests focus on advancing Medicaid LTSS reform, with particular attention to informal caregiving and workforce development.

Katherine Veligurskiy is pursuing a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where she is also earning a certificate in the Health of an Aging Society. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Health and Nutrition Sciences with a concentration in Public Health from Brooklyn College. Katherine brings direct experience working in a nursing and rehabilitation facility, where she witnessed firsthand the challenges and opportunities within long-term care. At VNS Health, she contributed to strategy initiatives focused on Medicaid and long-term care, examining service delivery models and system-level approaches to improving care access and quality. Her policy interests center on strengthening Medicaid LTSS and advancing more equitable, person-centered approaches to aging and long-term care that uphold dignity and expand access.

The G. Lawrence Atkins LTSS Policy and Research Fellowship (hereafter “Atkins Fellowship”) with the National MLTSS Health Plan Association is a funded fellowship opportunity for graduate students with a demonstrated interest in Medicare, Medicaid and/or long-term services and supports (LTSS) to gain experience in advancing LTSS policy through research, policy analysis, and engagement with a broad range of stakeholders. This fellowship is named for G. Lawrence Atkins, PhD, who previously served as the Executive Director of LTQA and the MLTSS Association. Dr. Atkins is a veteran of more than 30 years of health and social policy analysis, policy development, and legislative representation at the local, state, and federal levels, including as Staff Director of the federal Commission on Long-Term Care.