People
Reinier Schuur, PhD
Executive Director
Reinier Schuur is the Executive Director of AFCM. Reinier is also the host of AFCM’s podcast, The Pursuit of Health, where he interviews people about their experiences in the American healthcare industry and develops content on how to empower people to advocate for more freedom for themselves to protect and advance their values in the American healthcare system. Reinier holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, where he specialized in the philosophy of medicine, and a Masters of Science in Philosophy of Psychiatry from King’s College London. A native of the Netherlands, Reinier was a visiting Fulbright scholar at New York University and at the University of Pittsburgh. You can learn more about Reinier’s background by listening to the first episode of The Pursuit of Health here.
You can contact Reinier Schuur at rschuur@afcm.org.
Colleen Smith, MD
Writer and Editor
Colleen Smith is a writer and editor for Americans for Free Choice in Medicine and is a regular guest on the AFCM podcast, the Pursuit of Health. Colleen is an emergency medicine physician who currently practices in New York City. She completed medical school in Atlanta, GA at Emory University School of Medicine, residency in Emergency Medicine at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY and a fellowship in Medical Simulation and Education at New York University and Bellevue Hospitals. You can learn more about Colleen’s background in her interview.
Colleen also writes about health policy, medical education, and her experiences of the American healthcare system on her personal substack.
Caspar Safarlou, PhD
Researcher and Editor
Caspar Safarlou is an editor and researcher at Americans for Free Choice in Medicine. Caspar helps produce AFCM’s podcast, the Pursuit of Health, and provides research and editorial support for AFCM’s educational content. Caspar holds a PhD in bioethics from Utrecht University and is a postdoctoral researcher at its academic hospital. His research focuses on the ethical aspects of environmental epidemiology and data science. You can find out more about Caspar’s academic publications here.
Richard E. Ralston
Former Executive Director
Richard E. Ralston served as the Executive Director of AFCM from 2002 till 2024. Prior to joining AFCM, Richard had a successful career in publishing and direct marketing. His book ‘Communism: Its Rise and Fall in the 20th Century’ was published in 1991. He edited the book ‘Why Businessmen Need Philosophy’ in 1999. As the Executive Director of AFCM, Richard was a prolific writer of letters and columns in support of individual rights and personal choice in health-care policy that have been published in dozens of major newspapers in the United States. Richard played a pivotal role in organizing conferences against the Affordable Care Act in 2009, 2010, and 2011.