Allysa Dittmar

Vice President

DeafHealth

Allysa Dittmar, MHS is a deaf public health professional specializing in healthcare accessibility and public policy initiatives. Dittmar brings over fifteen years of experience in advancing systematic healthcare equity in both the public and private sectors, having worked at the Maryland Governor’s Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Maryland Department of Health, Gallaudet University, and Johns Hopkins University. After her own personal surgery experience, Dittmar co-founded and directed a +$45 M patient advocacy organization to develop a FDA-cleared and CE-marked transparent mask to help improve accessibility and care for different populations. In 2021, Dittmar was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for her advocacy work. She is currently the Vice President of DeafHealth, the health and patient advocacy division at Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc (CSD) and leads efforts in prioritizing equitable and accessible healthcare for deaf communities, promoting innovative ideas, and working towards culturally responsive healthcare. Dittmar is currently the PL of a grant-funded project from the Patient-Centered Outcomes and Research Institute (PCORI) on capacity building within deaf communities on accessible healthcare and virtual healthcare platforms. Dittmar graduated from the Johns Hopkins University as the first Deaf graduate to earn her B.A., summa cum laude. She earned her master’s degree at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a focus in deaf health disparities and health communication.