Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, is the Robert J. Margolis professor of business, medicine, and policy, and director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University with offices at Duke and in Washington DC. In his roles of a doctor and an economist, his work has addressed a wide range of strategies and policy reforms to improve health care. Before coming to Duke, he served as a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he was director of the Health Care Innovation and Value Initiatives and led the Richard Merkin Initiative on Payment Reform and Clinical Leadership. He also has a highly distinguished record in public service and in academic research. Dr. McClellan is a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he developed and implemented major reforms in health policy such as Medicare and Medicaid payment reforms, the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative, and public-private initiatives to develop better information on the quality and cost of care. He is the founding chair and a current board member of the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and chairs the Academy’s Leadership Council for Value and Science-Driven Health care, co-chairs the guiding committee of the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, and is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has also previously served as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and senior director for health care policy at the White House, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Department of the Treasury. As a previous associate professor of economics and medicine with tenure at Stanford University, he has twice received the Kenneth Arrow Award for Outstanding Research in Health Economics.

John H. Alexander, MD, MHS, FACC, is a cardiologist and professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine and Division of Cardiology at Duke University, as well as the vice chief for Clinical Research in the Division of Cardiology. He is the director of cardiovascular research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute where he oversees a large group of clinical research faculty and a broad portfolio of cardiovascular clinical trials and other clinical research programs.

Dr. Alexander’s clinical interests are in acute and general cardiovascular disease, valvular heart disease, and echocardiology. His research focuses on the translation of novel therapeutic concepts into clinical data through clinical trials, specifically on the therapeutics of acute coronary syndromes and chronic coronary artery disease, on antithrombotic therapies, and on novel methodological approaches to clinical research.

Dr. Alexander has published extensively and has served on the steering committee and as the principal investigator of numerous multi-center clinical trials.

Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, JD, MD, is director of the Office of Medical Policy (OMP) within the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She leads the development, coordination, and implementation of medical policy programs and strategic initiatives. She works collaboratively with other CDER program areas, FDA centers, and stakeholders on enhancing policies to improve drug development and regulatory review processes. Prior to joining FDA, Dr. Corrigan-Curay served as supervisory medical officer with the Immediate Office of the Director, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, at National Institute of Health (NIH), where she focused on developing policies and procedures to enhance the clinical trial enterprise. She also served as the director of the Office of Biotechnology Activities, Office of Science Policy at NIH, where she was executive secretary of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. She has held positions as an attending physician with the VA Medical Center, a policy analyst with the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and a practicing attorney in Washington, D.C. Dr. Corrigan-Curay earned her law degree from Harvard Law School, her medical degree from University of Maryland School of Medicine, and a bachelor’s degree in history of science from Harvard/Radcliffe College in Cambridge, MA. She completed her training in internal medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, where she also served as a clinical assistant professor of medicine. She continues to practice internal medicine part-time at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C. 

Donna R. Cryer, JD, has channeled her personal experience as an inflammatory bowel disease and liver transplant patient into professional advocacy. She is the president and chief executive officer of the Global Liver Institute. Ms. Cryer serves on the executive committee of the People-Centered Research Foundation, the boards of directors of the Society for Participatory Medicine and the Personalized Medicine Coalition, and as a patient representative to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Gastroenterology Specialty Board. Previously, Ms. Cryer served as the patient and consumer representative on the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Health Information Technology Policy Committee, the federal advisory body to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and as a merit reviewer for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. She was also a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Group for the NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory and a guidelines committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Ms. Cryer has been named one of the Top Blacks in Healthcare by the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University and BlackDoctors.org, one of the Top 10 Patients Who Make an Impact by Health 2.0, and one of PharmaVoice’s 100 Most Inspiring People. She received a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Dr. Hans-Georg Eichler is the senior medical officer at the European Medicines Agency in London, where he is responsible for coordinating activities between the Agency’s scientific committees and advising on scientific and public health issues. Prior to joining the European Medicines Agency, Dr. Eichler was at the Medical University of Vienna for 15 years, serving as vice-rector for research and international relations since 2003, and as professor and chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology since 1992. His other previous positions include president of the Vienna School of Clinical Research and co-chair of the Committee on Reimbursement of Drugs of the Austrian Social Security Association. His industry experience includes time spent at Ciba-Geigy Research Labs, UK, and Outcomes Research at Merck in New Jersey. Dr. Eichler graduated with an MD from Vienna University Medical School and a Master of Science in Toxicology from the University of Surrey in Guildford, UK. He trained in internal medicine and clinical pharmacology at the Vienna University Hospital as well as at Stanford University.

Pat Furlong is the founding president and chief executive officer of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest nonprofit organization in the United States focused on Duchenne muscular dystrophy. PPMD works to end Duchenne, the most common fatal, genetic childhood disorder, by accelerating research, advocating for optimal patient care, and educating the global community about the disorder. After her two sons were diagnosed with Duchenne, Ms. Furlong joined other parents to found PPMD in 1994. She has served on the boards of the Genetic Alliance and the National Organization for Rare Disorders, the National Institutes of Health’s Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee, the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Pediatric Studies Conducted Under BPCA and PREA, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Molecular and Clinical Genetics Panel. For her leadership in changing the course of Duchenne, Ms. Furlong was named among the top 50 orphan drug thought leaders by the World Orphan Drug Congress in 2014. She received the 2012 Global Genes | RARE Champion of Hope Advocacy Award and the 2008 Research!America Advocacy Award.

Dalvir Gill, PhD, is chief executive officer and member of the Board of Directors of TransCelerate BioPharma Inc. In this role, Dr. Gill leads the independent non-profit entity formed to assess, refine and create processes to bring innovative new medicines to the public faster. His – and the organization’s – focus is advancing innovation in research and development (R&D), identifying and solving common R&D challenges and further improving patient safety, with the goal of delivering more high quality medicines to patients. Dr. Gill has more than 25 years of drug development experience. Prior to his appointment as CEO of TransCelerate in December 2012, Dr. Gill was the president of Phase II-IV Drug Development at PharmaNet-i3, an international contract research organization. Born in Malaysia and educated in the United Kingdom, Dr. Gill joined the pharmaceutical industry with Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, holding positions in development, health economics and marketing. He also was selected to lead Rhone-Poulenc Rorer’s global clinical reengineering/process improvement initiative. Dr. Gill earned his Bachelor of Science in Applied Biology from the University of Hertfordshire, and his PhD in Pathobiology from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London. He also holds a diploma in the Health Economics of Pharmaceuticals from the Executive program of the Stockholm School of Economics, and is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. He has presented his research and spoken at numerous conferences and authored more than 30 scientific publications. 

John Hubbard, PhD, FCP, was president and chief executive officer of Bioclinica, Inc., a provider of specialized technology and clinical trial services. John retired as CEO in January 2018 to join Genstar Capital as a Healthcare Strategic Advisory Board member and advises the firm in areas of technology and healthcare investments. Dr. Hubbard has over three decades of experience in the clinical services and biopharmaceutical industries, including previous senior executive level positions at Pfizer, ICON, Parexel International, and Sanofi Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Bioclinica, he was senior vice president and worldwide head of development operations for Pfizer, where he directed and led clinical trial operations and management of more than 450 clinical projects each year and spearheaded initiatives to improve efficiency and productivity in pharmaceutical research and development. Dr. Hubbard was a founding member of the board of directors of Transcelerate Biopharma, Inc. He was recognized by Pharma Voice as one of the 100 Most Inspirational People of 2016. Dr. Hubbard received a Doctorate from the University of Tennessee, with a research focus on the neurobehavioral and genetic basis of hypertension and autonomic dysfunction. He has authored over 75 articles and abstracts in the areas of biopsychology, cardiovascular and autonomic pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and global drug development.

Kathy Hudson, PhD, is leveraging 25 years of science and policy leadership to assist biotech companies, academic organizations, and non-profits achieve their goals. She is the executive director of The People-Centered Research Foundation (PCRF) and is the former deputy director for science, outreach, and policy at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Hudson led the science planning, policy, legislation, communications, and outreach efforts of the NIH and served as senior advisor to the NIH director. She directed the agency’s efforts to advance biomedical science through policy development and innovative projects and partnerships. Dr. Hudson created major new strategic and scientific initiatives including the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the NIH Precision Medicine Initiative. She led the development of major policies that enable science to advance more rapidly including enhancing clinical trials, data sharing, and participation of patients as partners in research. She was the key NIH architect responsible for modernizing the regulations governing research with human subjects.

Dr. Hudson’s experience includes serving as the acting deputy director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH; the NIH chief of staff; the assistant director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH; and the founder and Director of the Genetics and Public Policy Center at John Hopkins University. Dr. Hudson has a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Science in microbiology from the University of Chicago.

Louis Jacques, MD is chief clinical officer and a senior vice president as well as partner at ADVI, a health care advisory services firm. Before joining ADVI in 2014, Dr. Jacques was the director of the Coverage and Analysis Group (CAG) in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from 2009 - 2014, where he managed Medicare fee for service coverage policy development on technologies as diverse as molecular diagnostic testing, implanted cardiac devices, advanced imaging, chemotherapeutics, wound care, and screening and preventive services. From 2004 – 2009 he was a division director within CAG.

Before joining CMS in 2003, he served as the associate dean for curriculum at Georgetown University School of Medicine; where he also saw patients at the Lombardi Cancer Center in his practice of hospice and palliative medicine.

Dr. Rick Kuntz is senior vice president and chief scientific, clinical and regulatory officer of Medtronic and serves as a member of the company’s executive committee. In this role, which he assumed in August 2009, Kuntz oversees the company’s global regulatory affairs, health policy and reimbursement, clinical research activities, and corporate technology. Dr. Kuntz joined Medtronic in October 2005 as senior vice president and as president of Medtronic Neuromodulation, which encompasses the company’s products and therapies used in the treatment of chronic pain, movement disorders, spasticity, overactive bladder and urinary retention, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and gastroparesis. In this role he was responsible for the research, development, operations, and product sales and marketing for each of these therapeutic areas worldwide. Dr. Kuntz brings to Medtronic a broad background and expertise in many different areas of healthcare. Prior to joining Medtronic, he was the founder and chief scientific officer of the Harvard Clinical Research Institute (HCRI), a university-based contract research organization that coordinates National Institutes of Health (NIH) and industry clinical trials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Kuntz has directed over 100 multicenter clinical trials and has authored more than 250 original publications. His major interests are traditional and alternative clinical trial design and biostatistics. He also served as an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of the Division of Clinical Biometrics, and was an interventional cardiologist in the division of cardiovascular diseases at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Kuntz has served as a member of the board of governors for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) since it was established in 2010 as part of the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Kuntz graduated from Miami University and received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, which was followed by fellowships in cardiovascular diseases and interventional cardiology at Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston. Dr. Kuntz received his Master of Science in Biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health.

As executive vice president and chief medical officer at Pfizer, Dr. Lewis-Hall leads the company’s efforts to ensure better health outcomes for patients. Trained as a psychiatrist, she served as vice chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine, delivered patient care, and described the effects of mental illness on families and communities. Before joining Pfizer, she held roles at global biopharmaceutical companies including Vertex, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly. Dr. Lewis-Hall was appointed by the Obama Administration to the inaugural Board of Governors for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and serves on the boards of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health; Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows; Society for Women's Health Research; Institute of Medicine's Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation; and the American Heart Association's "Power to End Stroke" initiative. Acknowledged as the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association 2011 “Woman of the Year“, she received a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from Howard University and is recognized as one of the nation's 75 Most Powerful Women in Business by Black Enterprise magazine and among the 25 Most Influential African-Americans in Health Care by Black Health magazine.

Virginia Nido is the global head of Product Development Industry Collaborations Management for Roche and Genentech. In this role, Ms. Nido is accountable for strategic oversight of external collaboration projects. Ms. Nido serves on the oversight committee of TransCelerate Biopharma and the board of Global Impact Partners of the Society for Clinical Research Sites. Prior to joining Roche, Ms. Nido was head of West Coast data management for Quintiles. She was also a project manager and research assistant at the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Pennsylvania. With over 20 years in industry, Ms. Nido is an experienced leader with strong competencies in global drug development business processes, team systems, and people management. She has a demonstrated ability to lead strategic projects across functions and therapeutic areas. She has a wide breadth of experience in phase II through IV clinical trials in multiple indications. She holds a Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College. Ms. Nido serves on the Board of Directors of the Women's Cancer Resource Center in Oakland, California. 

After obtaining his MD from Northwestern University, Dr. Selby moved to Northern California for his internship and a family medicine residency, eventually completing a Master of Public Health degree at the University of California, Berkeley. His fellowship project concerned behavioral factors in cardiovascular disease. He stayed in the Bay area at Kaiser Permanente for 27 years, including 13 as director of research, supervising up to 50 investigators and 500 staff members. He has had academic appointments at UC Berkeley, the University of California, San Francisco, and Stanford University. He has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles on far-ranging topics such as quality measurement and improvement, primary care delivery, colorectal cancer screening, and many studies that could be classified under the heading of “comparative effectiveness” — largely in the areas of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. He has received honors from the Public Health Service, the American Epidemiological Society, and Kaiser Permanente, and in 2009 he was elected into the Institute of Medicine. In July of 2011, Dr. Selby became the first executive director of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). PCORI’s mandate is to improve the quality and relevance of the evidence available in order to help patients, caregivers, employers, insurers, and policymakers make informed healthcare decisions.

Dr. Temple has a long-standing interest in the design and conduct of clinical trials. He has written extensively on this subject, especially on choice of control group in clinical trials, evaluation of active control trials, trials to evaluate dose-response, and trials using “enrichment” designs. Serving as CDER’s deputy center director for clinical science, and also acting deputy director of the Office of Drug Evaluation I (ODE-I..), he is responsible for the regulation of cardio-renal, neuropharmacologic, and psychopharmacologic drug products. He is trained in internal medicine and clinical pharmacology. Early in his career, Dr. Temple joined the Clinical Endocrinology Branch of the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, NIH. He was a reviewing medical officer in the Division of Metabolic and Endocrine Drug Products and became assistant to the director of the Bureau of Drugs later becoming the director of the Division of Cardio-Renal Drug Products. For several years he served director of the Office of Drug Research and Review. His contributions have been frequently recognized with numerous awards from professional societies and the government.

Director of the FDA division of cardiovascular devices for more than a decade, Dr. Zuckerman joined the FDA’s Division of Cardiovascular Devices as a medical officer in earlier in his career and has been actively involved in clinical trial design for many new cardiovascular devices. Trained in internal medicine and cardiology, Dr. Zuckerman was involved in basic research in hemodynamics and practiced noninvasive and invasive cardiology prior to transitioning to a career with the FDA.