Janice Tufte was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She has also resided in Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, Vermont, and New Mexico. She attended college in Washington, Minnesota, and California, with a focus on sociology and special education.

She serves as a patient research advisor on the University of Washington Centers for Comparative and Health System Effectiveness CERTAIN project, is a public panel member for the American College of Physicians, and serves on the National Quality Forum’s Measure Application Partnership Coordinating and Risk Adjustment Committees. She also serves on the GRAVITY Project’s Executive Committee and is an advisory member for the National Center for Complex Care and Social Needs.

Tufte has a passion for connecting communities, organizations, and individuals to one other. She is an expert at taking learned best practices and information gained from one organization or institution and sharing that important knowledge with others at diverse levels. She currently presents as an individual to college classes, on panels, and at medical conferences. She has participated on large international research projects and conference planning committees and continues to review abstracts for research conferences, bringing the patient partner voice to the review process and the events themselves.

Tufte has initiated and nurtured six Puget Sound community-based projects, addressing the social determinants of health and disparities, combining poverty awareness with volunteer-based opportunities. She is currently involved with evidence-based work, measurement panels, and guidelines participation, with health systems improvement as her priority area. She has been a PCORI Ambassador since 2014 and has attended Annual Meetings and presented at the 2017 preconference. She has received multiple scholarships related to integrating the patient partner voice and is active in Ambassador activities.