Patricia Gray is Director of Research for the Health Law & Policy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center.  Prior to joining the staff at the law center, she was in the private practice of law for 20 years and also served as a special assistant for health policy at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, the state’s oldest medical school.  Ms. Gray was elected to the Texas Legislature in 1992 where she chaired the House Committee on Public Health for two sessions prior to her retirement in 2003.  In 2003 she received the Nathan Davis Award from the American Medical Association for Outstanding Government Service for her work on health care issues.  She holds a J. D. from South Texas College of Law and an LL. M. in health law from the University of Houston Law Center.