Grant Huang, Ph.D., is the Acting Chief Research and Development Officer (CRADO) for the Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development (ORD).
Dr. Huang assumed his role on Feb. 3, 2025.  He is responsible for developing and executing the strategy for VA's nationwide research enterprise, which encompasses more than 7,200 active projects at more than 100 sites. VA research is supported by a $2.4 billion dollar budget (for fiscal year 2024), which includes both direct VA support and research funding from outside entities such as the National Institutes of Health, other federal agencies, and nonprofit and private organizations.

Grant previously served as the Deputy CRADO for Enterprise Optimization and director of the ORD Cooperative Studies Program. In these roles, Dr. Huang helped lead an enterprise-focused research strategy for planning, integrating, and coordinating VA resources to enhance evidence-based care for Veterans. This enterprise includes field-based research programs at more than 100 VA Medical Centers, empowering pre-clinical and clinical research across multiple fields, such as health services, rehabilitation, informatics, and genomics research. During his VA tenure, he has been part of the design and conduct of over 100 multi-site national and international clinical studies, the establishment of the Million Veteran Program, and the implementation of quality standards.
Dr. Huang has authored more than 150 publications covering clinical, health services, and rehabilitation topics in various scientific journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He has served on various committees, including ones sponsored by the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, Association for Clinical Research Professionals, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

In 2024, Dr. Huang became the first ever research executive to be awarded the prestigious John D. Chase Award for Executive Excellence in Health Care. He has received several other recognitions and awards, including the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the Master Teacher Award from George Mason University.
Dr. Huang holds a Ph.D. in Medical Psychology and a Master of Public Health, from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences.

Michael D. Parrish is the recently former Chief Acquisition Officer and Principal Executive Director for the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction (OALC) where he served as the senior advisor to the Secretary, overseeing all acquisition activities within the Department. Dr. Parrish led a team of 17,000 acquisition professionals, manages a procurement budget of $63 billion, and administered approximately $100 billion in major programs. Additionally, he managed the VA’s $22 billion major construction and leasing program, which supported the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States which provided care at 1,255 healthcare facilities to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA healthcare program. He also served as the Chairman of the Board for VA’s Acquisition Academy, responsible for overseeing the Federal Acquisition Center of Excellence’s mission to provide the acquisition workforce training, professional development, and career management to transform acquisition outcomes throughout the Federal Government. 

Dr. Parrish has significant senior leadership experience in military, government, corporate, and non-profit organizations. Before joining the Department of Veterans Affairs, he worked as a Professor of Practice/Senior Advisor of Systems Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Dr. Parrish has served as Chairman & CEO of several publicly traded companies and as founder and CEO of multiple Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses. Additionally, he has held executive leadership positions at various General Electric (GE) companies, where he served as General Manager for global logistics and services for GE’s Water business and as Managing Director for GE Capital, specializing in e-commerce, Six Sigma, and productivity of several GE’s equipment management groups.

Dr. Parrish is a retired Colonel who served on active duty and in the U.S. Army Reserves. He is a senior Army Aviator and Army Acquisition Corps Officer and served as an Air Operations Officer during Operations Desert Storm and Provide Comfort.

He has a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Engineering Management (artificial intelligence) from Missouri University of Science & Technology. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and has a Master’s degree in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering from Stanford University as well as an MBA with Honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from The Air War College and is DAWIA Level III certified in Program Management.

Dr. Parrish is the past President of the West Point Society of Philadelphia and has served on the advisory boards of the American Society for Engineering Management, Delaware Valley Industrial Resources Center, USO of Southeast Pennsylvania/New Jersey, and the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Bethany Blackwell serves as Vice President of Sales at Carahsoft Technology Corp, a leading government IT solutions provider that partners with federal, state and local governments, higher education and healthcare institutions. In this role, Bethany oversees a portfolio of complementary cloud vendors including Zoom, Salesforce, Mulesoft, DocuSign, Box, and over 100 ISV vendors in the public sector space.

Tim Hartman is Chief Executive Officer of Government Executive Media Group, the public sector division of Atlantic Media Company. Dedicated to helping influential executives in government do their important work, Government Executive Media Group is one of the leading digital B-to-B media companies.

Over the past fifteen years, Tim has served in various roles across Atlantic Media Company. He joined Government Executive in 2007 to manage new product development, and rose to the role of President in 2012. During his time there, Tim oversaw the transformation of Government Executive Media Group into a digital-first enterprise, launching numerous digital brands and products and expanding Government Executive into the Defense and State and Local markets. Through this aggressive growth and innovation plan, Government Executive Media Group saw explosive reach in audience engagement and traffic increase. Today, over 60% of Government Executive Media Group’s revenue stems from digital products. In March 2014 Tim was appointed Chief Executive Officer of National Journal Group, where he oversaw the National Journal’s transformation from an ad-supported media company to a premium membership and services enterprise. Upon completion of the transformation, Tim returned to Government Executive Media Group as Chief Executive Officer in November 2015.

A researcher by trade and a long-time military studies enthusiast, David specializes in analyzing military markets and combat systems research. With six years of military service and over seven years of research experience, David has devoted his professional career to studying the defense industry. Understanding how militaries operate, what tools they use, and how they use them is what inspires him. David works with clients to answer important industry questions and find pragmatic solutions to complex issues.

Before joining Forecast International, David spent six years in the United States Marine Corps where he specialized in infantry tactics and training. Following his military service, he spent seven years researching, writing, and analyzing content in the defense field. His previous roles include Global Conflict Data Analyst at Intelligence Fusion, Geopolitical Risk Analyst at Global Risk Intelligence, and Senior Industry Analyst at Government Business Council.

Nick Wakeman is the editor-in-chief of Washington Technology and joined the publication in 1996 as a staff writer. He’s a graduate of Bridgewater College and earned a masters degree from American University. When he isn’t writing about government contractors, he’s cooking large pieces of meat over fire and dreaming of ways to embarrass his two sons.