Former HHS Aide Joins Sidley Austin in D.C.

An aide to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has left HHS for Sidley Austin in Washington, the firm announced last week.

Dora Hughes, who was Sebelius' science and public health counselor, is joining Sidley's government strategies group as a senior policy adviser.

Efforts to reach her for a comment weren't immediately successful. But Hughes, who is a medical doctor and not a lawyer, said in a written statement released by Sidley that she is "so pleased" to come to the firm, which, according to congressional records, counts Bayer HealthCare LLC and Purdue Pharma LP among its clients.

"I look forward to this transition into the private sector as it will give me the opportunity to use my experience in the public sector to help clients develop and implement strategies to improve the health and healthcare of all Americans," she said.

Prior to starting at HHS in 2009, Hughes served as a health adviser to then-Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and as a Democratic deputy health staff director on the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee when Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) was the panel's chairman.