2024 Heroes in Health Celebration

Michele Markus is a healthcare communications professional with over 20 years of experience and currently oversees the largest health clients across the private, public, policy, genomics and technology sectors for Omnicom, a leading worldwide marketing and communications company.

Michele has spent her career in health and immersed herself in the perspective of the ultimate recipient – the patient. Combining a deep customer understanding with her background in global commercial strategy and organizational performance management consulting, she has commercialized products and implemented programs in more than 80 markets worldwide. Her understanding of diseases and their impacts was derived from time spent in R&D, communications, strategic planning and lifecycle management across a range of categories, including specialty, infectious diseases, rare conditions, CV/metabolic, nutrition, consumer/OTC, surgical and devices.

Michele serves as Chair of Board of Advisors for The Alliance for Aging Research in Washington DC and The Communications Chair for The Board of Advisors for Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative in San Francisco, CA She is also the founder and creator of SHIFT:Health, the private invitation-based healthcare exchange event that focuses on the wider political, socioeconomic and policy shifts affecting the health industries and how to invoke actionable change.

She is the creator and leading expert on Strategic CartographySM, which helps biotech, diagnostic and pharma companies commercialize in these shifting markets – breaking down traditional global, regional and local mindsets. In addition, she has been a sought-after speaker for several industry events including, The Aspen Institute, The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), Annual Emerging Markets Commercial Excellence Forum, Brilliant Minds, WIN/WIN Podcast Series and the Cannes Lions Health Festival. She has been a Lecturer at NYU Stern School of Business, Columbia University Business School, UNC Chapel Hill Hussman School of Journalism and Media and been a Mentor with The Marketing Academy for the last 6 years.

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.

Kristi Martin the chief of staff and senior advisor to the deputy administrator in the Center for Medicare. As a policy strategist, she draws on her decades of experience working in the public sector, with private sector clients, and in philanthropy. She was previously the Vice President for Health Care at Arnold Ventures where she led the philanthropy’s prescription drug pricing portfolio and was the Managing Director of Waxman Strategies’ health practice where she worked alongside Congressman Henry Waxman driving toward progressive outcomes in health policy.

Kristi served several years in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Personnel Management, and Government Accountability Office. As a senior advisor in the Obama administration’s Office of Health Reform, she had primary oversight responsibility for the coordinated and timely implementation of cross-cutting departmental public health and prevention initiatives under the Affordable Care Act, including addressing the rising cost of drugs and setting up the women’s preventive services initiative. Kristi received her bachelor’s and master’s in health communication from the University of Kentucky and a master’s of public administration from George Washington University.

Molly Burich, MS, 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. and 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.

Pamela Price currently serves as the Deputy Director for The Balm In Gilead managing the various faith and community-based initiatives of the organization to include serving as the Director for the organization’s Brain Health Center for African Americans. In addition to her role as Deputy Director, she also serves as the Chief Technical Officer for Women in Reality Film TV, Inc (WIRF Media) and President of From the Bottom Up Foundation based in Atlanta, GA. Mrs. Price holds a B.S. in Public Health and has more than 20 years of experience working with national and government agencies to develop and implement multi-faceted programs to meet the societal and cultural needs of women and under-valued communities. 

As an exemplary leader with an innovative mindset, Pamela provides strategic direction & support to multi-sector organizations in the areas of project design, implementation and evaluation, to strengthen their overall efficiency & capacity to deliver impactful & sustainable programs and services. She is a representative member of national committees, coalitions, and advisory boards, and excels in working with both public & private sector institutions. Mrs. Price is a national speaker, advocate & educator, routinely participating in briefings, webinars & conferences on issues such as mental health, healthy aging, health policy, digital equity and community infrastructure development. 

She has served as a member of the U.S. Army Nurse Corp and has excelled in both government and non-governmental agencies providing leadership and guidance on program management, quality improvement, and project development. Mrs. Price is adept at leveraging national, state, & local partnerships with leaders in pharmaceutical, academic, entertainment, financial and educational industries to create, pilot, and scale programs that improve the quality of life for our most vulnerable communities and future generations.

Sue Peschin, MHS, is President and CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research, the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the narrative to achieve healthy aging and equitable access to care. The Alliance strives for a culture that embraces healthy aging as a greater good and values science and investments to advance dignity, independence, and equity. a non-profit organization leading the way to a healthier, more dignified aging experience for all.

Since 2012, Ms. Peschin has led the Alliance team on 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 (NERDY-Nurturing Engagement in Research and Development with You); advocate for patient affordability and equity-based value frameworks; and improve Medicare treatment access. Sue is a national speaker and thought leader on healthy aging, whose writing has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and top-tier newspapers.

Ms. Peschin serves on the Boards of Directors for the Association of Black Cardiologists; Heart Valve Voice U.S.; and the National Health Council; and on the Committee for Advancement of Respite Research; the Science Advisory Board for the UCSF-Stanford Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation; 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.

Alexis Reisin Miller leads Global Regulatory Policy & Intelligence at Merck. Ms. Miller has advised and advocated for a range of innovative biopharmaceutical industry clients over her career of over 20 years, leveraging legal and regulatory policy experience to help clients speed development and approval of new therapies. She held similar roles at Sanofi and Eisai, leading U.S. policy, and also served as Regulatory Counsel in the Office of Regulatory Policy at FDA’s Center for Drugs. Prior to her in-house policy roles, Ms. Miller worked as both an associate and partner at an international law firm, counseling clients on a range of regulatory and policy matters before FDA, FTC, CPSC, and other agencies.

Michael Irizarry, M.D., M.P.H., is Senior Vice President, Clinical Research, Neurology; Deputy Chief Clinical Officer, Clinical Evidence Generation (CEG), Deep Human Biology Learning (DHBL) at Eisai Inc. He is responsible for the overall strategy and clinical development of the company’s neurosciences portfolio, including clinical pharmacology and translational medicine.

Dr. Irizarry joined Eisai in September 2018 as Vice President of Clinical Research, Epilepsy/Sleep, in which he led the clinical development of Eisai’s Epilepsy and Sleep/Wake programs, including regulatory submissions for compounds that received regulatory approvals to treat epilepsy and insomnia. He was named Vice President of Clinical Research for Eisai’s neuroscience business in May 2019, and soon promoted to Senior Vice President of Clinical Research and Deputy Chief Clinical Officer, Neurology in April 2020. He was promoted to his current role in September 2023.

Prior to joining Eisai, Dr. Irizarry served as Vice President, Early Clinical Development, Neurosciences at Eli Lilly, responsible for the Phase 1 and 2 neurosciences portfolio. His focus was on neurodegeneration advancing molecules from candidate selection to investigational new drug applications, up through proof-of-concept studies. Before joining Eli Lilly, he was Acting Vice President, World-Wide Epidemiology at GlaxoSmithKline, where his

team of more than 60 epidemiologists and database analysts supported clinical trial planning; safety and effectiveness studies; and oversight and application of in-house claim databases and electronic health records.

Dr. Irizarry earned undergraduate and medical degrees from Georgetown University, and a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. He completed his neurology residency and Memory Disorders Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, and continued as a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty at the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. His research has encompassed molecular mechanisms, clinical-pathological correlations, animal models, biomarkers, and epidemiology of neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Paul Underwood is an interventional cardiologist with 4 decades’ experience in cardiovascular medicine. Having grown up in Tennessee, on the Knoxville College campus, he believes higher education is critical for Blacks to achieve parity in America. A graduate of Morehouse College, he completed medical school at Mayo Clinic-Rochester followed by cardiology fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. Whie serving as the ED and ICU director at St. Croix Hospital he instituted thrombolytic therapy for STEMI and procured the islands first cardiac treadmill. After settling in Phoenix, AZ he started Eclipse Clinical Research Associates to combine research with his clinical practice. This collaboration spawned a medtech software firm during the infancy of mobile technology. He joined Boston Scientifics’s clinical team in 2009. At BSC he supported clinical trials, regulatory submissions and product launches for interventional cardiology and structural heart devices. He was also medical director for Close the Gap, BSC’s data-driven initiative empowering patients and providers toward their health equity goals. In 2023 Paul left BSC to launch Cardio MedSci LLC, a life sciences consulting firm specializing in medical technology.

Dr. Underwood joined ABC as a cardiology fellow. He co-chaired the CME Committee during the initial ACCME accreditation. His first clinical trial as primary investigator was a heart failure study obtained through the Research Committee. He sat on the ABC Board of Directors in 1999, was vice-president in 2002 and elected president in 2004. In 2009 he was appointed co-chair of the Community Programs Committee and a member of the Health and Public Policy Committee. Dr. Underwood is a Life Member and a staunch advocate for equitable access to evidence-based treatment to eliminate the disparate health outcomes experienced by African Americans. He has also worked with the American Heart Association to legislate installation of AEDs in public places and eliminate indoor tobacco use in Arizona, while nationally he sat on the Power to End Stroke steering committee and was the Women and Children’s Committee liaison to the Scientific Advisory Coordinating Council. He was a founding member of the Center for African American Health – AZ and is a longstanding member of the Arizona Latin-American Medical Association.

He and his wife reside in Phoenix, sharing time with their 5 adult children. While away from his desk he enjoys travel, gardening, and music.

Dr. Robert M. Califf was confirmed as the 25th Commissioner of Food and Drugs. He also served in 2016 as the 22nd Commissioner, and immediately prior to that as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco. He has spent a good portion of his career affiliated with Duke University, where he served as a professor of medicine and vice chancellor for clinical and translational research, director of the Duke Translational Medicine Institute, and was the founding director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute. He has had a long and distinguished career as a physician, researcher, and leader in the fields of science and medicine. He is a nationally recognized expert in cardiovascular medicine, health outcomes research, health care quality, and clinical research, and a leader in the growing field of translational research, which is key to ensuring that advances in science translate into medical care.