Cyrus Ahalt, MPP
Chief Program Officer
Medicine
School of Medicine

He has consulted to Departments of Corrections around the country to promote rehabilitation by improving living and working conditions in state prison facilities and enhance health care services for aging, cognitively impaired, and seriously and terminally ill people in prison, including expanding access to existing Medical Parole and Compassionate Release laws. As part of that work, he has facilitated an ongoing international exchange program that has advanced prison reform in the U.S. by connecting leaders in the Norwegian Correctional Service with correctional and government leaders in six U.S. states. The program has been featured in USA Today, Mother Jones, and other media outlets.

He has contributed research and writing for expert testimony commissioned by the National ACLU, the US Federal Sentencing Commission, and others and has authored textbook chapters for the World Health Organization's Health In Prisons guide and the Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Mr. Ahalt has assisted California State Senators and advocacy organizations in drafting and advancing criminal justice reform bills and conducted a portfolio review of NIH funding to highlight the dearth of research funding on behalf of people in prison despite the national focus on health disparities.

Mr. Ahalt's previously worked as a public health program evaluator assessing interventions to improve population health and eliminate domestic violence in post-conflict sub-Saharan Africa.

• The resource team: A case study of a solitary confinement reform in Oregon.
  PloS one 2023 Cloud DH, Haney C, Augustine D, Ahalt C, Williams B
• A stepwise guide for healthcare professionals requesting compassionate release for patients who are incarcerated.
  International journal of prisoner health 2022 Kanbergs A, Garcia-Grossman I, Ahalt C, DiTomas M, Bedard R, Williams B
• Correction to: "We just needed to open the door": a case study of the quest to end solitary confinement in North Dakota.
  Health & justice 2021 Cloud DH, Augustine D, Ahalt C, Haney C, Peterson L, Braun C, Williams B
• "We just needed to open the door": a case study of the quest to end solitary confinement in North Dakota.
  Health & justice 2021 Cloud DH, Augustine D, Ahalt C, Haney C, Peterson L, Braun C, Williams B
• Occupational Health: A Key to the Control of COVID-19 in Correctional Facilities.
  Annals of internal medicine 2020 Sears D, Ahalt C, Augustine D, Williams B
• Medical Isolation and Solitary Confinement: Balancing Health and Humanity in US Jails and Prisons During COVID-19.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2020 Cloud DH, Ahalt C, Augustine D, Sears D, Williams B
• Prisons: Amplifiers of the COVID-19 Pandemic Hiding in Plain Sight.
  American journal of public health 2020 Barnert E, Ahalt C, Williams B
• Role of a US-Norway Exchange in Placing Health and Well-Being at the Center of US Prison Reform.
  American journal of public health 2020 Ahalt C, Haney C, Ekhaugen K, Williams B
• First Do No Harm.
  2019 Brie Williams, Cyrus Ahalt
• The Cardiovascular Health Burdens of Solitary Confinement.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2019 Williams BA, Li A, Ahalt C, Coxson P, Kahn JG, Bibbins-Domingo K
• Smoking and Smoking Cessation Among Criminal Justice-Involved Older Adults.
  Tobacco use insights 2019 Ahalt C, Buisker T, Myers J, Williams B
• "No One Wants to Die Alone": Incarcerated Patients' Knowledge and Attitudes About Early Medical Release.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2018 Kanbergs A, Ahalt C, Cenzer IS, Morrison RS, Williams BA
• Reply to "Cognitive Health and Incarceration among Older Adults".
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2018 Ahalt C, Williams BA
• "We Take Care of Patients, but We Don't Advocate for Them": Advance Care Planning in Prison or Jail.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2018 Ekaireb R, Ahalt C, Sudore R, Metzger L, Williams B
• Cognition and Incarceration: Cognitive Impairment and Its Associated Outcomes in Older Adults in Jail.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2018 Ahalt C, Stijacic-Cenzer I, Miller BL, Rosen HJ, Barnes DE, Williams BA
• Six-Month Emergency Department Use among Older Adults Following Jail Incarceration.
  Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 2018 Humphreys J, Ahalt C, Stijacic-Cenzer I, Widera E, Williams B
• Older adults in jail: high rates and early onset of geriatric conditions.
  Health & justice 2018 Greene M, Ahalt C, Stijacic-Cenzer I, Metzger L, Williams B
• Balancing the Rights to Protection and Participation: A Call for Expanded Access to Ethically Conducted Correctional Health Research.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2018 Ahalt C, Haney C, Kinner S, Williams B
• Wealth-Associated Disparities in Death and Disability in the United States and England.
  JAMA internal medicine 2017 Makaroun LK, Brown RT, Diaz-Ramirez LG, Ahalt C, Boscardin WJ, Lang-Brown S, Lee S
• Examining the role of healthcare professionals in the use of solitary confinement.
  BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 2017 Ahalt C, Rothman A, Williams BA
• Differences between incarcerated and non-incarcerated patients who die in community hospitals highlight the need for palliative care services for seriously ill prisoners in correctional facilities and in community hospitals: A cross-sectional study.
  Palliative medicine 2017 Rothman A, McConville S, Hsia R, Metzger L, Ahalt C, Williams BA
• Advancing evidence-based interventions at the intersection of criminal justice and health.
  International journal of prisoner health 2017 Ahalt C, Williams B
• Building on mental health training for law enforcement: strengthening community partnerships.
  International journal of prisoner health 2017 Campbell J, Ahalt C, Hagar R, Arroyo W
• Mobilizing cross-sector community partnerships to address the needs of criminal justice-involved older adults: a framework for action.
  International journal of prisoner health 2017 Metzger L, Ahalt C, Kushel M, Riker A, Williams B
• "Teach-to-Goal" to Better Assess Informed Consent Comprehension among Incarcerated Clinical Research Participants.
  AMA journal of ethics 2017 Ahalt C, Sudore R, Bolano M, Metzger L, Darby AM, Williams B
• PARALLELS ACROSS THE POND: WEALTH ASSOCIATED DISPARITY IN DEATH AND DISABILITY IN THE U.S. AND ENGLAND.
  Innovation in Aging 2017 L.K. Makaroun, R. Brown, L. Diaz-Ramirez, C. Ahalt, J. Boscardin, S. Lang-Brown, S. Lee
• Good Cop, Better Cop: Evaluation of a Geriatrics Training Program for Police.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2017 Brown RT, Ahalt C, Rivera J, Stijacic Cenzer I, Wilhelm A, Williams BA
• Guest editorial.
  International journal of prisoner health 2017 Ahalt C, Williams B
• Older and incarcerated: policy implications of aging prison populations.
  International journal of prisoner health 2017 Psick Z, Simon J, Brown R, Ahalt C
• Reducing the use and impact of solitary confinement in corrections.
  International journal of prisoner health 2017 Ahalt C, Haney C, Rios S, Fox MP, Farabee D, Williams B
• For Seriously Ill Prisoners, Consider Evidence-Based Compassionate Release Policies
  Health Affairs Blog 2017 Williams B, Rothman A, Ahalt C
• Detained and Distressed: Persistent Distressing Symptoms in a Population of Older Jail Inmates.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2016 Bolano M, Ahalt C, Ritchie C, Stijacic-Cenzer I, Williams B
• Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and associated health and social vulnerabilities in older jail inmates.
  Aging & mental health 2016 Flatt JD, Williams BA, Barnes D, Goldenson J, Ahalt C
• Challenges in Identifying Refugees in National Health Data Sets.
  American journal of public health 2016 Semere W, Yun K, Ahalt C, Williams B, Wang EA
• Detained and Distressed: Persistent Distressing Symptoms in a Population of Older Jail Inmates (TH360B).
  Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2016 Marielle Bolano, Cyrus Ahalt, Christine Ritchie, Irena Stijacic Cenzer, Brie Williams
• Do Palliative Care and Geriatric Factors Predict 6-Month ER Use in Older Jail Inmates? (S713).
  Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2016 Jessica Humphreys, Cyrus Ahalt, Brie Williams
• In-Hospital Mortality Among California’s Jail and Prison Inmates: The Need for Improved Data on the Causes of Death (TH360A).
  Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2016 Jason Flatt, Cyrus Ahalt, Renee Hsia, Brie Williams
• The state of research funding from the National Institutes of Health for criminal justice health research.
  Annals of internal medicine 2015 Ahalt C, Bolano M, Wang EA, Williams B
• How can criminal justice systems from police to probation address the medical and social care needs of elderly prisoners? Invited Blog Post for Penal Reform International. Retrieved from http://www.penalreform.org/
  How can criminal justice systems from police to probation address the medical and social care needs of elderly prisoners? Invited Blog Post for Penal Reform International. Retrieved from http://www.penalreform.org/ 2015 Ahalt, C. Williams B
• Pain behind bars: the epidemiology of pain in older jail inmates in a county jail.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2014 Williams BA, Ahalt C, Stijacic-Cenzer I, Smith AK, Goldenson J, Ritchie CS
• Police on the front line of community geriatric health care: challenges and opportunities.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2014 Brown RT, Ahalt C, Steinman MA, Kruger K, Williams BA
• Older jail inmates and community acute care use.
  American journal of public health 2014 Chodos AH, Ahalt C, Cenzer IS, Myers J, Goldenson J, Williams BA
• "My older clients fall through every crack in the system": geriatrics knowledge of legal professionals.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2014 Soones T, Ahalt C, Garrigues S, Faigman D, Williams BA
• The Epidemiology of Pain in Older Jail Inmates with Advanced and Chronic Illness (TH337-C).
  Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2014 Brie Williams, Cyrus Ahalt, Alexander Smith, Irena Stijacic Cenzer, Christine Ritchie
• 1%ers.
  2014 Faye S. Taxman, Michael Caudy, Stephanie Maass, Rolf Loeber, David P. Farrington, Daniel Birks, Henk Elffers, Elizabeth R Groff, Nick Malleson, Andrew Evans, Brie Williams, Cyrus Ahalt, Louise Aronson…
• Aging Correctional Populations.
  Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice 2014 Brie Williams, Cyrus Ahalt, Louise Aronson
• Chapter in Bruinsma G and Weisburd D, The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice
  Aging Correctional Populations. Springer. NY. 48-59 2014 Williams B, Ahalt C, Aronson L
• Chapter in: Moller L, Stover H, Jurgens R, et al. Health in Prisons: A WHO guide to the essentials in prison health
  The Older Prisoner and Complex Medical Care. The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, Prisons and Health, World Health Organization. pp.165-169 2014 Williams BA, Ahalt C, Greifinger RB
• Current Geriatric Diagnosis & Treatment. McGraw Hill, NY
  2014 Williams BA, Chang AC, Ahalt C, Chen H, Conant RC, Landefeld CS, Ritchie CS, Yukawa M (Co-Editors)
• Addressing the aging crisis in U.S. criminal justice health care.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2012 Williams BA, Goodwin JS, Baillargeon J, Ahalt C, Walter LC
• Quality of life in late-life disability: "I don't feel bitter because I am in a wheelchair".
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2012 King J, Yourman L, Ahalt C, Eng C, Knight SJ, Pérez-Stable EJ, Smith AK
• How safe is your neighborhood? Perceived neighborhood safety and functional decline in older adults.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2011 Sun VK, Stijacic Cenzer I, Kao H, Ahalt C, Williams BA
• "Knowing is better": preferences of diverse older adults for discussing prognosis.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2011 Ahalt C, Walter LC, Yourman L, Eng C, Pérez-Stable EJ, Smith AK