2022 National Policy & Advocacy Summit on Biologics

Dr. David Charles is Chairman of the Alliance for Patient Access and a practicing neurologist in Nashville, Tennessee.  Dr. Charles is a national leader in movement disorders research and is past chairman of the Public Policy Committee for the American Neurological Association and Legislative Affairs committee of the American Academy of Neurology. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and American Neurological Association and past Board member of the United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties, and Past-President of the Tennessee Academy of Neurology. He is currently leading the only clinical trial approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to test deep brain stimulation in people with early stage Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Charles took leave from his practice in 1998 and spent a year on the staff of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee for Public Health and Safety, where he served as a health policy advisor. Following this experience in Washington, Dr. Charles conducted Parkinson’s disease research in France as a Fulbright Senior Scholar.

Gavin Clingham is Director of Public Policy for the Alliance for Patient Access, advising on federal and state policies that impact patient access to health care.

With more than two decades of public policy advocacy experience, Gavin brings a comprehensive understanding of the legislative and regulatory process, having served as Legislative Director for a senior Member of the US House Committee on Appropriations. In his role with AfPA, he engages with federal agencies including CMS and FDA, the US Congress and various state legislatures to ensure the health care providers perspective is considered as access policies are developed and implemented.

Gavin received his Juris Doctor degree from the Boston University School of Law, graduated from The Catholic University of America and is a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A lifelong Red Sox fan, he lives in Maryland.

Amanda Conschafter brings more than a decade of experience in communications, advocacy education and writing training. Ms. Conschafter has provided writing and editing services on behalf of Fortune 500 companies, industry leaders, government contractors, and nonprofits dedicated to education, veterans employment and health policy. She has led writing tutorials and workshops in both academic and business settings.

Ms. Conschafter also served on the legislative staff of Senator Lindsey Graham, where she communicated the senator’s policy positions on education, the judiciary and entitlement programs. Ms. Conschafter holds a B.A. summa cum laude in English and an M.A.T. in English Education from Converse College.

Josie Cooper serves as executive director of the Alliance for Patient Access. At AfPA, Ms. Cooper has worked in stakeholder and clinician mobilization, developing policy and educational strategies to improve patient access to care.

Ms. Cooper has a background in communications, research, grassroots organization and campaign politics. Ms. Cooper has worked at the state and national level advising political campaigns and public affairs clients on supporter and stakeholder mobilization. She has worked on major races across the country, from presidential campaigns to Senate and congressional races. Prior to joining AfPA, Ms. Cooper worked for a DC-based consulting firm and for a trade association representing biotechnology companies.

Dr. Dennis R. Cryer is a co-founder and serves as Physician Co-Convener of the Biologics Prescribers Collaborative. An alumnus of Johns Hopkins University and the Medical Scientist Training Program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Dr. Cryer has an expansive career: in academia on the research and clinical faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry at Bristol-Myers Squibb, ultimately as vice president of external medical affairs serving as external liaison for advocacy and quality across therapeutic areas. Dr. Cryer played a leadership role in the clinical research, development and launch of two blockbuster drugs in the cardiometabolic space. Dr. Cryer is a member of numerous scientific organizations including American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association (former Chair of the Pharmaceutical Roundtable), American Society of Human Genetics, American Society of Hypertension (former Chair, Corporate Affairs Committee), the Endocrine Society, and the National Lipid Association. Dr. Cryer is the Chief Medical Officer of CryerHealth, a Washington, DC based patient-centric healthcare consultancy. In addition, he currently serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the National Library of Medicine and is a Founding Member of the Board of Directors of Global Liver Institute.  He is a former member of the Boards of Directors of the Association of Black Cardiologists and the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, and officer of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Dr. Cryer lives with his wife, Donna R. Cryer, JD, in Washington, DC.

Quardricos Driskell is Vice President of Public Policy & Government Affairs for the Autoimmune Association, a global organization dedicated to autoimmune awareness, advocacy, education, and research. Driskell spearheads the Autoimmune Association’s public policy efforts to champion patient-first policies at the federal and state levels, handling legislative and regulatory issues while uniting stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to protect and improve key policies on behalf of people impacted by autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases. Most notably, Driskell leads the 50+ members of the National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups to protect and improve key policies on behalf of people impacted by autoimmune diseases. He leads the Autoimmune Association’s flagship advocacy program, Let My Doctor’s Decide, a national partnership of healthcare organizations working to support a simple goal: treatment decisions should always be made by patients and trusted healthcare professionals. Driskell is a graduate of Morehouse College, Harvard University, and The George Washington University and serves as an Adjunct Professor in Legislative Affairs at The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management.

Ryan is the Executive Director of the Partnership to Advance Cardiovascular Health, where he regularly convenes influential stakeholders to address access barriers to appropriate cardiovascular care and improve awareness about cardiovascular disease. Ryan’s background spans a decade in public policy advocacy and campaign politics. He now focuses on helping PACH and other organizations make change in creative and compelling ways.

Kita Hardy was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease on August 13,2016. After many years of being turned away and the countless misdiagnoses, it was in the year of 2016 she began to get an official understanding as to why she was ill and the cause. The many ER visits were taking a toll on her life. As a single mom of 4, at the time of her diagnosis, her children were young and her illness impacted a majority of their childhood.

Brian Henderson is the Director of State Government Affairs at Hart Health strategies where he works with the Coalition of State Rheumatology Organizations on a variety of issues impacting rheumatologists and the patients they treat.

Anna Hyde is the Vice President of Advocacy and Access at the Arthritis Foundation. She oversees both the federal and state legislative programs, in addition to grassroots engagement. Her focus is to raise the visibility of arthritis as a public health priority, build support for federal and state legislation that ensures access to affordable, high-quality health care, and enhance patient engagement in the policy-making process. Anna previously served as Senior Director of Advocacy and Access, managing the federal affairs portfolio and overseeing the state advocacy team.

Prior to joining the Arthritis Foundation in 2014, Anna worked as Senior Manager for Federal Affairs at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, where she managed a portfolio of issues including appropriations, physician workforce, and health IT. She began her health policy career as a Congressional Fellow for Energy and Commerce Committee members, where she drafted legislation and staffed Committee activities. Anna received a BA in History from Southern Methodist University, and taught junior high and high school history before moving to Washington D.C. in 2007 to pursue an MA in Political Science from American University.

Dr. Sanjay Juneja is a triple board certified Hematologist & Medical Oncologist serving as Chief of Oncology Service at Baton Rouge General Hospital, and a social & news media personality known as ‘TheOncDoc‘ with over half a million followers. He is an active participant for the White House Healthcare Leaders in Social Media Roundtable and national speaker. Dr. Juneja is the host of an innovative podcast called ‘Target: Cancer’ with distinguished academicians and celebrities around the country, and been featured in several articles including The Washington Post and guested on dozens of acclaimed podcasts and regional news channels (PBS, CBS, NBC, NPR). He is a Business Report’s 40 under 40 recipient from his hometown of Baton Rouge, where he partners with the LA Department of Health and Mayor’s office to optimize healthcare access and outreach. Dr. Juneja currently practices in his beloved hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana with his wife Dr. Lauren and their three wild boys. 

Wesley Mizutani, MD, is a practicing rheumatologist for over 30 years in a group practice setting. He currently serves a lead rheumatologist for Optum Medical Group California. Dr. Mizutani built a successful clinical trials unit for healthcare partners and participated in over 75 clinical trials. He continues to serve as  California Chairman of the California Arthritis Foundation Advocacy Council and formerly served on the Arthritis Foundation National Advocacy Committee.

Leslie Narramore is the director of regulatory affairs at the American Gastroenterological Association where she also oversees coding, coverage and reimbursement issues. She graduated from the George Washington University with a masters of public administration and has over 20 years’ experience in the healthcare field. She has held positions and consulting engagements in a variety of aspects of physician practice professional affairs.

Kathy Oubre is the CEO of Pontchartrain Cancer Center in Louisiana.

Kathy is a board member of the Community Oncology Alliance and chairs the Biosimilars committee and serves on their Government Affairs committee.  She also serves on the International Oncology Network Panel as well as their government affairs committee. Kathy chairs the NCODA Oncology Institute. She also serves on the Strategic Advisory committee and Leadership Council for Flatiron Health. Kathy is a member of ACCC and serves on their Oral Oncoloytics Advisory committee. Kathy also serves on the editorial boards for The Center for Biosimilars and the Journal of Evidence-Based Managed Care.

As Executive Director, Marketing for Amgen’s Biosimilars Business Unit, Chad Pettit leads the Global Biosimilars Commercial Team in developing global launch strategy for Amgen’s portfolio biosimilar medicines. With his global experience, Chad is recognized as an expert on biosimilar commercialization, market access for biosimilars, and the policy measures required to facilitate cost savings for patients and the health care system over the long run.

Chad received his MBA from the University of California Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management, and holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California Davis. In his spare time, he provides leadership and service within the community, enjoys the outdoors, and spends time with his wife Amy and four children.

Claire’s current role at the Cancer Support Community (CSC) focuses on sharing CSC’s patient insights externally and ensuring the patient experience remains central to all that CSC does.  Prior to becoming VP of Patient Experience, Claire led CSC’s national patient education and outreach efforts for 5 years. The award-winning Frankly Speaking About Cancer education programs were co-created with cancer patients & caregivers. Programs were culturally-adapted to meet the needs of specific populations and speakers of multiple languages and produced in a variety of print, digital, and in-person formats.

Claire came to CSC from the Urology Care Foundation, where she managed national patient education programs and disease awareness campaigns with partners including the National Football League.  As Executive Director of the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, Claire developed the first National Bladder Cancer Awareness Day.  While the Executive Director of the Breast Cancer Resource Center in Austin, Texas, she doubled their patient advocacy and outreach programs.  Claire began her work in health advocacy while part of the team that opened the National Domestic Violence Hotline in 1996.

Claire holds an MBA from the University of Oregon and an undergraduate degree from Rice University.

Philip J. Schneider is founder and principal of MediHealthInsight that provides consultation to the industry and others on matters related to improving the use of medicines including the application of new technologies in healthcare.

He is also Chair of the Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines (ASBM) International Advisory Board.  ASBM serves as an authoritative resource center of information for the public, and the healthcare and health policy communities on the issues related to biologic medications.

Professor Schneider holds a faculty appointment as Professor – Practice at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy.

Sara Traigle van Geertruyden is the Executive Director of the Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC), a coalition chaired by former Congressman Tony Coelho, original author of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Sara joined PIPC in January 2011.  Her work is focused on policies to advance a patient-centered health system, from patient engagement in research to driving outcomes that matter to patients in healthcare payment and delivery.