Heroes in Health 30th Anniversary Celebration

James G. (Jim) Scott, President & CEO of Applied Policy, founded the company in 2009 from a desire to apply his in-depth knowledge of federal health policy and help healthcare providers and companies succeed. As a respected member of the health policy community, he offers valuable experience and access to key players in government and industry.

Prior to founding Applied Policy, Jim helped introduce optimal Medicare coding and coverage for all Hoffmann-La Roche pharmaceutical products. While at Roche, he also worked to resolve Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement issues at federal level and served as the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s principal contact with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Jim served as Senior Legislative Advisor at CMS, advising the CMS Administrator on congressional intent in implementing the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 and engaging Members of Congress in the implementation process. He received agency-wide awards for his work with Congress in 2005 leading to successful implementation of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit and with congressional appropriators on the FY 2006 President’s Budget request.

Prior to his service with CMS, Jim was an Assistant Counsel with the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the U.S. Senate, where he was a principal drafter of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 along with other Medicare legislation. Jim and his work were recognized through the unanimous passage of a Senate Resolution and in numerous statements by Senators and Representatives printed in the Congressional Record.

Jim serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Aging Research, founded the Northern Virginia Health Policy Forum and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria.

Dr. Doug Jacobs is the Chief Transformation Officer in the Center for Medicare at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). At CMS he is helping lead Medicare’s efforts to promote value-based care, advance health equity, and encourage delivery system transformation. He most recently served as the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Innovation Officer for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, helping to oversee the state Medicaid and human services programs amidst the pandemic for the 16,000 person state agency. He was tapped by Governor Wolf to lead the state’s Whole Person Health Reform initiative, which included expanding value-based care, promoting health equity, and addressing the social determinants of health. Under his leadership, the Department of Human Services created Pennsylvania’s first equity incentive program in Medicaid, established new rules incorporate community-based organizations to address the social determinants of health, and oversaw Medicaid’s increasing movement towards value-based care. He also helped lead the COVID-19 response for the agency, creating programs to protect long-term care facilities and roll out the COVID-19 vaccine to vulnerable populations. Dr. Jacobs is a practicing board-certified internal medicine physician and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. He is also an avid writer, having published pieces in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, New York Times, and Washington Post. He trained in Internal Medicine Primary Care at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and served as Chief Resident at the West Roxbury VA hospital, received his M.D. at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, his M.P.H. at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and his Bachelor’s in Sciences from Brown University.

Amanda Bartelme serves as Executive Director, Policy at Eisai, Inc. In this role, she leads Eisai’s engagement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), focusing on ensuring Medicare beneficiaries have appropriate access to treatments. Ms. Bartelme also provides internal support on issues related to access, reimbursement and drug pricing, as well as represents Eisai on workgroups with PhRMA and BIO focused on these areas.

Prior to joining Eisai in May 2022, Ms. Bartelme was Director of Coding and Reimbursement, US Public Policy at GSK, where she supported access to vaccines, oncology, respiratory, rheumatology, HIV, and Covid treatments. She also served as Associate Director at Policy and Reimbursement at Baxalta, where she focused on hemophilia, oncology, and plasma-based therapies. Ms. Bartelme began her career in health policy and reimbursement at Avalere Health, where she spent over a decade working on access for drugs, devices, and services with a special focus on physician administered drugs, diabetes, biosimilar payment policy, the 340B program, and the evolving drug pricing and payment landscape.

Ms. Bartelme earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University. She has authored articles published in The Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, as well as Diabetes Therapeutics & Technology.

Molly Burich, M.S., is the Senior Director of Public Policy at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals Inc. where she leads the public policy team. Ms. Burich develops strategies to support and execute on Otsuka’s policy platform to support all of Otsuka’s products. Ms. Burich was formerly the Head of Public Policy at Boehringer Ingelheim, Inc. In her role she led the public policy team with specific focus on biosimilars as well as reimbursement across the existing and pipeline portfolio for Boehringer Ingelheim. Ms. Burich has held previous positions in federal and state government affairs, public policy and reimbursement across other organizations including Xcenda, an Amerisource Bergen company and Avalere Health. Ms. Burich holds a master of science in public service management with an emphasis in public policy from DePaul University and a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Northern Colorado.

Michael Ward leads the Alliance for Aging Research’s regulatory and legislative efforts to support research, promote patient access, and advance high-quality care. In this role, he conducts direct advocacy and strategic planning for engagement with Congressional offices, the White House, and federal agencies, including the FDA, CMS, and the CDC. Michael serves as a convener for multiple coalitions that elevate the patient voice within policy spheres of influence to advance affordability, access, equity, and funding for healthcare research. His work at the Alliance has also focused on advancing patient-centered value assessment, improved methods of quality measurement, and reducing out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries.

Previously, Michael worked in leading policy development roles at Premier, Inc., the American Hospital Association, and Avalere. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Religious Studies from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Science degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Sue Peschin, M.H.S., is president and CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research, the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discoveries and their application to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health. The Alliance’s vision is to create a culture that respects aging as a greater good and values investments that advance independence, dignity, and equity. Ms. Peschin has led efforts to increase federal investment in aging research; raise awareness of geriatric cardiovascular diseases; develop an older patient and family caregiver research engagement network called Talk NERDY to Me (NERDY-Nurturing Engagement in Research and Development with You); advocate for patient affordability and equity-based value frameworks; and improve Medicare treatment access. Ms. Peschin serves on the Boards of: Heart Valve Voice U.S.; the National Health Council; the Committee for Advancement of Respite Research; the Preparedness and Treatment Equity Coalition; and Voices of Alzheimer’s; as well as on the Science Advisory Board for the UCSF-Stanford Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI); the USP Council of the Convention (CoC); and on the UMD Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center Community Advisory Board. Previously, Sue served in senior roles at the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, Consumer Federation of America, Hadassah, and the Violence Policy Center. Ms. Peschin earned a B.A. in Sociology from Brandeis University, and a M.H.S. degree in Health Policy from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Sue lives in Rockville, MD with her husband Steven, and sons Max and Nathan.

Hilary Marston, M.D., M.P.H., Chief Medical Officer, FDA, serves as the primary clinical advisor to the Commissioner and oversees the Office of Clinical Policy and Programs. She leads cross-cutting initiatives that support the FDA’s centers in making effective, safe, and innovative medical products available for patients.

Dr. Marston previously served as the Senior Advisor for Global COVID-19 Response on the White House COVID-19 Response Team. Her previous roles also include Director for Medical Biopreparedness and Response at the U.S. National Security Council and Medical Officer and Policy Advisor for Pandemic Preparedness at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Marston also served in positions with McKinsey & Company and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr. Marston trained in Internal Medicine and Global Health Equity at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. She completed her M.P.H. at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Sean Curtis is senior vice president and Head of Global Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Safety (GRACS) and Quality Assurance (QA) within Merck Research Laboratories (MRL).

GRACS is responsible for driving innovative regulatory and safety strategies to enable rapid and efficient licensure pathways and maintain product registration. QA serves as the organization that provides oversight to ensure subject safety and research integrity through-out the drug development life cycle. In his capacity as head of GRACS, Sean serves as an Ad-Hoc representative to the ICH Assembly for PhRMA and as Vice-Chair of the Charles Forum. Within MRL, he co-chairs the MRL Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Governance Committee and serves as an Executive Sponsor of both the New Jersey Chapter of Merck’s League of Employees of African Descent Employee Business Resource Group (LEAD EBRG) and of the Pennsylvania Chapter of Merck’s ALIANZA EBRG. In 2023, he became a member of the Year Up National Advisory Board. Prior to his role in GRACS, Sean spent over 20 years working in Clinical Development; most recently as the Late-Stage Clinical Therapeutic Area Head for Respiratory and Immunology. From 2015 through 2020, he also led the Global Center for Scientific Affairs, and during this time period also led the MSD China development organization.

Sean received his MD/MPH from Tufts University School of Medicine, completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and a post-doctoral clinical and research fellowship in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City.

Candace DeMatteis has served as the Policy Director for the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) since January 2008. PFCD is committed to both raising awareness of the human and economic toll chronic diseases exact and highlighting solutions that addressing these challenges equitably for all affected.

As the Policy Director, Mrs. DeMatteis is responsible for monitoring and shaping health policy relating to chronic disease prevention and management, including many aspects of health reform implementation relating to enhancing health for all.

Mrs. DeMatteis brings more than 25 years of public policy experience to PFCD. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from North Carolina State University, and received her Juris Doctor and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Nadim Geloo joined Abbott as senior medical director for the company’s structural heart division in 2022. In this role, he supports all global medical affairs activities for the business.

Prior to joining Abbott, Dr. Geloo worked at Virginia Heart where he was director of structural heart. He was also director of the catheterization laboratory QA committee at Inova Heart and Vascular Institute. Prior to that, Dr. Geloo worked as an interventional cardiologist at Sentara Healthcare and East Carolina University. He brings many years of experience in the field of structural interventions from a structural fellowship at Sentara.

Dr. Geloo holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a medical doctorate degree from the Medical College of Virginia. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Cardiology and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.