J. Alton Croker III, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. He obtained his PhD in Health Services and Policy at the University of Iowa, and his MA in Political Science at the University of New Hampshire. He has extensive research and evaluation experience in substance abuse prevention and harm reduction, survey design, qualitative methods, and primary data management. Research interests include health outcomes, disparities, end-of-life care, industry practices, and regulatory policy.