2025 Heroes in Health Celebration

James G. Scott is President and CEO of Applied Policy, the Alexandria, Virginia–based health policy consulting firm he founded in 2009 to help healthcare providers and companies navigate federal policy and payment programs. With more than 20 years of experience in Washington, D.C., he has developed deep policy expertise and long-standing relationships across government and industry.

Before founding Applied Policy, Mr. Scott directed federal government affairs for Roche, where he secured Medicare coding, coverage, and payment for the company’s pharmaceutical portfolio and served as Roche’s primary liaison with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

He previously served as Senior Legislative Advisor at CMS, counseling the Administrator on congressional intent during implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. His work earned agency-wide recognition for contributing to the launch of the Medicare prescription drug benefit and for supporting congressional appropriations for the FY 2006 President’s Budget.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Scott was Assistant Counsel in 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 and other Medicare legislation. The Senate unanimously passed a resolution honoring his contributions, and numerous Senators and Members of Congress entered statements in the Congressional Record recognizing his work.

Mr. Scott earned his Bachelor of Science in Political Science from James Madison University and his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Aging Research, Mr. Scott founded the Northern Virginia Health Policy Forum, and serves on the Steering Committee of the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria.

Alec Aramanda serves as the Principal Deputy Director of the Center for Medicare, overseeing policy and operations related to Medicare fee-for-service, Medicare Advantage, and the Medicare Prescription Drug Program. Prior to joining the Center for Medicare, Mr. Aramanda worked at the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee where he led the Medicare and Health Information Technology portfolio. He previously served at CMS from 2018 through 2021 as the Director of the Office of Legislation and the Director of Stakeholder Engagement. Before joining CMS in 2018 he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services from 2017 through 2018. He began his public policy career at the Heritage Foundation in 2006 before serving in the U.S. Senate from 2010 through 2017 in the offices of Senators Jim DeMint and Ted Cruz. Before re-joining CMS in February of 2025, he most recently worked at law firm Williams & Jensen. He received a B.A. in Political Science from Haverford College.

Christie Bloomquist, J.D., MHA is Vice President of US Strategy and Government Affairs at Astellas Pharma. She leads the company’s US government and public affairs strategy and supports the development and pull-through of US Commercial priorities. Ms. Bloomquist also oversees US employee engagement efforts and partners with senior leaders to strengthen culture and organizational effectiveness. With more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, she is recognized for navigating complex policy environments and advancing strategies that deliver meaningful impact for patients and business alike.

Sally Greenberg is a champion of consumer and worker rights and joined the National Consumers League (NCL) as Executive Director on October 1, 2007. An expert on a broad spectrum of issues, Ms. Greenberg has testified before Congress and federal agencies on privacy matters, food labeling, geopolitical tracking, teen financial literacy and NCL’s teen LifeSmarts program, child labor, fraud, product safety, data privacy, auto safety, and prescription drug access, safety and affordability. In 2022, Ms. Greenberg assumed the role of CEO, continuing to advance NCL’s mission of advocating for fairness and transparency in the marketplace.

Before joining NCL, Ms. Greenberg honed her expertise as Senior Product Safety Counsel at Consumers Union from 1997 to 2007, where she focused on product liability, food safety, and auto safety. Earlier in her career, she worked at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Foreign Claims Settlement Commission and served over a decade as Eastern States Civil Rights Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League in Boston, combating discrimination and promoting justice.

Ms. Greenberg’s public service journey began as a legislative correspondent for Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) and later as a legislative assistant for Congressman Toby Moffett (D-CT). Throughout her career, Ms. Greenberg has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to empowering women and advancing equity. She served as president of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts and the Women’s Bar Foundation, contributing to several gubernatorial commissions under Massachusetts Governor William Weld.

Ms. Greenberg brings extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, serving on prominent boards and advisory councils. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Fair Labor Association and the Alliance for a Stronger FDA. Additionally, she serves on the Advisory Council of Tzedek DC and participates in the ANSI Consumer Information Forum. Committed to her community, Ms. Greenberg volunteers as Co-President of Temple Sinai Women of Reform Judaism.

Her prior leadership roles include serving on the boards of the Alliance for Justice and HALT, an organization dedicated to legal system reform. She was also appointed to the Board of the Reagan-Udall Foundation, established to support the FDA. Ms. Greenberg’s previous board memberships further include the Keystone Center, Trillium Asset Management, Responsive Law, and Impact100 DC.

Ms. Greenberg’s thought leadership extends to writing, with publications including a chapter, “Who’s Minding Our Business,” in the National Museum of American History’s 2015 volume, American Enterprise, as well as numerous law review articles and an Amicus Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dan leads the US Corporate & Government Affairs team and is responsible for communications, government affairs, policy and patient advocacy across AstraZeneca’s BioPharmaceutical Business Unit and Oncology Business Unit. He serves as a member of the US Leadership Team.

Before assuming his current role in 2023, he was Country President of AstraZeneca Ireland since 2021. Mr. Wygal joined AstraZeneca in 2004 and has held various leadership roles, including Executive Director, Value Strategy within the US Market Access Team, where he oversaw the development and delivery of innovative value strategies, gross-to-net contract, and channel strategies for US Oncology and BioPharmaceutical Business Units.

Additionally, he held roles within Market Access, Marketing, and Sales Leadership at AstraZeneca, MedImmune, and GSK.

Mr. Wygal received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from the State University of New York, Oswego.

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.

Ms. Markus is a “failed Virologist” shifting her passion in college from researching hemorrhagic diseases to marketing and business solutions. She realized her passion for communications as a force for health intervention through amazing undergraduate internships at Mount Sinai, Children’s Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (her alma mater) and Ketchum Public Relations.

Since then, she 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.

Moreover, her focus in oncology – both solid tumor and hematologic malignancies – over the past 15 years has sharpened her vision and beliefs around accelerating Innovation and Access.

Ms. Markus 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.

Most recently, Ms. Markus moderated the invitation-only panel on behalf of the Alliance for Aging Research with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Equity and Advocacy Organizations and Pharma industry partners, “What’s Next for Medicare’s Prescription Drug Costs and Affordability Efforts” focusing on the Inflation Reduction Act and other key initiatives impacting transparency around affordability and access.

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.

Ms. Markus has served as a Guest 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.

As a full-time working mother of an energetic and inquisitive tween, free time is spent learning Lego Technic, rushing between basketball games, and watching YouTube videos of Mark Rober and Minecraft with her family.

John Dwyer is the President of the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation. The GAP Foundation is dedicated to making the clinical trial process for Alzheimer’s therapies substantially more efficient thereby speeding cures to patients afflicted with this insidious disease. Mr. Dwyer is a serial healthcare entrepreneur who most recently participated in the acquisition of MeYou Health, upon whose Board he now serves. Prior to GAP, Mr. Dwyer served as the co-founder and Chairman of Telcare, Inc., a high technology manufacturer of the first wirelessly enabled blood glucose meter designed to empower patients with diabetes to better manage their disease.

Mr. Dwyer first became a CEO at the age of 30. In the following years, he has held “C” level positions in six emerging growth companies in the healthcare industry. His past assignments have included serving as CEO of e-Medex, Inc., which later merged with Active Health Management to become the leading provider of population health management services where he served as the Chief Operating Officer. Active Health was purchased by Aetna in 2005. He was also a co-founder and Chairman of CodeRyte, Inc., a venture-backed seller of medical billing software using natural language processing to generate billing codes. CodeRyte was purchased by 3M in 2012.

Mr. Dwyer co-founded Us Against Alzheimer’s, a patient advocacy group focused on changing the way the country addresses the threat posed by Alzheimer’s. He also cofounded the first political action committee focused on a specific disease, the Alzheimer’s Action PAC. He began his career as an attorney with the Washington DC based law firm of Arent, Fox LLP where he focused on transactions in regulated industries.

Mr. Dwyer currently serves on the Boards of Directors of a number of private and not-for-profit organizations. Mr. Dwyer is a graduate of Marquette University and the Cornell Law School.

Steven M. Hersch, M.D., Ph.D., serves as Vice President of Clinical Research within Clinical Evidence Generation, Deep Human Biology Learning (CEG, DHBL) at Eisai Inc. In this role, he helps support early and late-stage clinical development of Eisai’s neurology portfolio. He also serves as the International Program Team Lead (IPTL) for a monoclonal antibody for the treatment Alzheimer’s disease (AD), overseeing its global clinical development.

Dr. Hersch joined Eisai in 2021 as Vice President, Clinical Research – NBG New Modalities, in which he led the emerging discovery and early clinical programs for the company’s new treatment modalities, including anti-sense oligonucleotides and gene therapies for neurodegeneration and epilepsy. Since assuming the IPTL role in December of 2022, he has assisted the team in securing the approval of the first US FDA-approved treatment that has been shown to reduce the rate of disease progression and slow cognitive and function decline in adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to AD or mild AD.

Until recently, Dr. Hersch, a practicing neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, has conducted extensive research on neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and ataxia. He has served as Director of the Emory and New England Centers for Excellence in HD, Director of the Laboratory of Neurodegeneration and Neurotherapeutics in the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegeneration, and Vice President of the Huntington Study Group. He is currently also a professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, where he has been a faculty member since 2003. Earlier in his career he was a member of the Neurology Department at the Emory University School of Medicine.

Dr. Hersch also has extensive industry expertise, providing advisory and consulting services for preclinical and clinical trial development for many companies. Prior to joining Eisai, Dr. Hersch was Vice President for Clinical Research and Development at Voyager Therapeutics, where he was responsible for clinical development and translational medicine leadership for gene therapy programs in neurodegeneration and pain.

An author of more than 135 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Hersch has served as a reviewer or editorial board member for numerous scientific journals, in addition to serving on many institutional, foundation, FDA and NIH grant review and scientific advisory board committees. He earned both his Ph.D. in Anatomy and his M.D. in Medicine from the Boston University School of Medicine. He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Medicine from Harvard Medical School. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from American University.

Alexis Reisin Miller serves as Executive Director of Global Regulatory Policy at Merck, where she leads strategic initiatives to shape regulatory frameworks that support timely access to innovative therapies. With over 20 years of experience advising biopharmaceutical companies, Ms. Reisin Miller has championed regulatory and policy solutions that accelerate the development and approval of innovative treatments, including those addressing unmet needs in special populations. She previously led U.S. policy efforts at Sanofi and Eisai, and served as Regulatory Counsel in the Office of Regulatory Policy at FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Earlier in her career, Ms. Reisin Miller was a partner at an international law firm, guiding clients through complex regulatory, policy, and commercial matters before FDA, FTC, CPSC, and other agencies.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is the first woman elected to represent the State of Minnesota in the United States Senate. Throughout her public service, Senator Klobuchar has always embraced the values she learned growing up in Minnesota. Her grandfather worked 1500 feet underground in the iron ore mines of Northern Minnesota. Her father, Jim, was a newspaperman, and her mother, Rose, was an elementary school teacher who continued teaching until she was 70.

Senator Klobuchar has built a reputation of putting partisanship aside to help strengthen the economy and support families, workers, and businesses. In the 117th Congress, she was number one in the Senate for introducing bipartisan bills and number three for passing bills into law. 

Senator Klobuchar is guided by the belief that her first duty is to represent the people of Minnesota. She acted quickly to obtain full funding to rebuild the I-35W bridge just thirteen months after it tragically collapsed into the Mississippi River. She worked across party lines to expand education and job opportunities for returning service members, fought to ensure that Minnesota National Guard members received the full benefits they earned, and helped turn Minnesota’s ground-breaking “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon” program into a national model. As a member, and now lead ranking member, of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Klobuchar worked to pass several bipartisan Farm Bills to strengthen Minnesota’s rural economy and give farmers the certainty and support they need.

Working with both Democrats and Republicans, Senator Klobuchar has made key progress on legislation to keep people safe. She led the effort to pass landmark pieces of legislation to end human trafficking and combat the opioid and fentanyl epidemic. She fought to pass the most significant consumer product safety legislation in a generation, keeping foreign toxic products off our shores and out of our stores. She also pushed the cell phone companies to enact more consumer-friendly policies. Additionally, her efforts to protect consumers have resulted in the largest furniture and airbag recalls in American history. 

As Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Senator Klobuchar is working on behalf of farmers, agriculture workers, and rural communities by fighting to expand the farm safety net, support food assistance programs, and expand voluntary conservation programs. She has also passed legislation to encourage the use of renewable fuels and to invest in programs to stop the spread of animal disease.   Additionally, Senator Klobuchar is devoted to passing on Minnesota’s tradition of outdoor recreation, fishing, and hunting to the next generation and has secured significant funding for research, restoration, and conservation activities, including the 2022 Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Reauthorization Act. 

As a member of the Joint Economic Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee, Senator Klobuchar has been a leader in working to implement a competitive agenda to ensure businesses have the tools they need to grow and create good jobs in their communities. She has established herself as a leader on addressing supply chain issues, successfully leading the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act to address sky-high shipping prices, which was ultimately signed into law. She has also authored legislation to lift the trade embargo with Cuba as well as legislation to help small businesses tap into new markets abroad and foster the creation and growth of new businesses across the country. She has successfully advocated to take action to combat illegal steel dumping. As co-chair of the Senate Broadband Caucus, Senator Klobuchar has been a leading advocate working to connect every American to high speed internet once and for all. Her provisions to expand high-speed broadband across the country were included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in 2021. She has also passed significant legislation aimed at increasing funds for STEM education and led national initiatives to boost American tourism, including a long-term reauthorization of Brand USA, which helps attract international travelers to destinations throughout the United States. Finally, she has established herself as a key voice on workforce training and leads bills to boost apprenticeships, skills training, and community and technical college so that America can continue to compete on the world stage. 

Senator Klobuchar also serves as a senior member on the Senate Judiciary Committee where she has been active in advocating for legislation focused on increasing funding for police and first responders, protecting civil rights, expanding drug courts, improving our criminal justice system, and reforming our immigration laws. As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and Law, she is committed to establishing guardrails online to protect Americans – from children exposed to harmful content and illegal drugs to consumers who have no privacy protections.  She has also worked to reinvigorate America’s antitrust laws and restore competition to American markets. She introduced legislation to strengthen prohibitions on anticompetitive conduct and mergers, and make additional reforms to improve enforcement. In 2022, her bipartisan bill to create rules of the roads for digital markets became the first piece of antitrust tech legislation to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee since the advent of the Internet. She also passed bipartisan legislation to modernize merger fees and increase resources for antitrust enforcers. The Washington Post credited her approach, noting, “The moderate but meaningful proposals provide a launchpad for cross-aisle cooperation, a goal of much of the senator’s legislative handiwork.” She has also introduced bipartisan legislation to lower prescription drug prices by cracking down on “pay-for-delay” agreements, the practice of brand-name drug manufacturers using pay-off agreements to keep more affordable generic equivalents off the market. Long focused on bringing down costs for families, provisions from Senator Klobuchar’s legislation to finally unleash Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices with the big pharmaceutical companies were signed into law in 2022. 

Senator Klobuchar previously served as the Chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, where she has worked to ensure fairness, transparency, and efficiency in government. In response to the January 6th insurrection, she led a bipartisan investigation into the security, planning, and response failures related to the violent and unprecedented attack. The report made numerous recommendations, including passing a law to change Capitol Police Board procedures and improving intelligence sharing. Senator Klobuchar has worked across the aisle to implement these recommendations, including passing bipartisan legislation to give the U.S. Capitol Police Chief with the authority to request assistance from the DC National Guard or federal law enforcement agencies in emergencies without prior approval of the Capitol Police Board. 

Senator Klobuchar spearheaded the Freedom to Vote Act in the U.S. Senate and was instrumental in passing the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act. Additionally, she helped pass the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate and has authored legislation to automatically register eligible voters when they turn 18. She has also led efforts to improve election security and prevent foreign interference in our democracy and successfully secured $1.2 billion to strengthen states’ election infrastructure and help protect them from future attacks by foreign adversaries. She was the lead Democrat chairing the inaugural ceremonies for the 59th and 60th Presidential inaugurations. 

Before serving in the Senate, Senator Klobuchar headed the largest prosecutor’s office in Minnesota for eight years, making the prosecution of violent criminals her top priority while increasing the office’s focus on white collar crime. In the Senate, she has championed reauthorizations of the local COPS Hiring Program and has prioritized both the funding of local police officers across the country as well as federal law enforcement such as the U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Attorneys Offices, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals Service. She led the effort for successful passage of Minnesota’s first felony DWI law and received the leadership award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Her safe schools initiative, community prosecution efforts, and criminal justice reforms earned national awards from both the Bush and Clinton Justice Departments. She worked with the Innocence Project to advocate for videotaped interrogations across the country as well as innovative eyewitness processes to protect against false identifications. As a private citizen and before being elected to public office, Senator Klobuchar was the leading advocate for successful passage of one of the first laws in the country guaranteeing 48-hour hospital stays for new moms and their babies.

Senator Klobuchar’s work has gained national recognition. Vogue magazine described her as “personable, popular, and pragmatic,” The New York Times described her as a “former prosecutor with made-for-state-fair charms,” and Working Mother named her as “Best in Congress” for her efforts on behalf of working families. “Want to reform antitrust? Amy Klobuchar knows where to start,” The Washington Post headlined its opinion piece on her sweeping antitrust legislation, the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act. She has received numerous awards from the National Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union for championing farmers and rural communities. She has been recognized for her work on behalf of children and consumers, and Refugee International gave her the Congressional Leadership Award for her work to support refugee communities. She received an award from the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) for her work to fight sexual assault in the military, and the Disabled American Veterans honored her work to improve the lives of America’s veterans. She also received the “Outstanding Member of the Senate Award” from the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition and the Distinguished Public Service Award from the American Legion. In 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented her with the Order of Merit, First Class. 

Senator Klobuchar was the valedictorian of her Wayzata High School class. She graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School. Her senior essay in college, published as the book “Uncovering the Dome,” chronicles the 10-year-history behind the building of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and is still used at colleges and universities across the country. Her book, “Antitrust,” was on the New York Times Best Sellers list. 

Senator Klobuchar is married to John Bessler, a native of Mankato, who attended Loyola High School and the University of Minnesota. Senator Klobuchar and John have a daughter, Abigail, who they are very proud of!

Dr. Neal Dunn grew up in a multi-generational Army family and lived overseas on more than 20 military installations worldwide, including for two years in Vietnam. He was an Eagle Scout and National Merit Scholar in his youth before attending Washington and Lee University, earning his M.D. at George Washington University, and finishing his Urological residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Dr. Dunn joined the US Army as a surgeon. He spent the next 11 years as an Army surgeon before settling in Bay County, Florida. During his residency in Washington, he met and married his wife, Leah.

Dr. Dunn practiced medicine in Panama City for 25 years, with a subspecialty interest in advanced prostate cancer. He was the founding president of the Advanced Urology Institute, a 50-physician practice with over 400 employees and offices throughout Florida.

Before being elected to Congress, Dr. Dunn served on the Board of Governors of the Florida Medical Association for 18 years and was the Chairman of the Florida Medical Association’s Council on Legislation. He served as Chief of Staff of Gulf Coast Hospital and Director of the Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Joint Venture. He went on to become the founding Chairman of Summit Bank, a large regional bank headquartered in Panama City with branches throughout Northwest Florida.

Dr. Dunn was first elected to Congress in 2016 and has been subsequently reelected four times by his constituents. His district is the largest east of the Mississippi River, which includes all or part of 16 counties in North Florida. He currently serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the oldest standing legislative committee in the House of Representatives, where he serves as the Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Health.

Additionally, Dr. Dunn serves on the Select Committee on Communist China, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the House Democracy Partnership, and the House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Dunn lives in Panama City, Florida, with his wife, Leah. They are the proud parents of three sons and have five grandchildren.

Dr. Foluso A. Fakorede is the Chief Executive Officer at Cardiovascular Solutions of Central Mississippi. Originally from Nigeria, he immigrated to the United States during his teenage years. Dr. Fakorede earned his medical degree from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and completed his internal medicine residency at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Hospital. He went on to complete fellowship training in cardiology, interventional cardiology, and endovascular intervention at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. Since relocating to the Mississippi Delta in 2015, Dr. Fakorede has been unwavering in his mission to provide timely, high-quality cardiovascular care and educate communities to reduce preventable amputations. He is a nationally recognized leader in raising awareness about Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) and the amputation epidemic, particularly in underserved and rural communities. In 2024, Dr. Fakorede was the subject of the award-winning documentary Bloodlines, Mississippi, produced by Grain Media in collaboration with Nobel Outreach, and later selected by the Nobel Prize Foundation.The documentary highlights Dr. Fakorede’s groundbreaking work to combat diabetes-related amputations in the Mississippi Delta’s underserved African-American communities through prevention, education, and access to care.

Dr. Fakorede’s leadership has helped shape national policy, including his instrumental role in introducing the bipartisan Amputation Reduction and Compassion (ARC) Act, which led to the first Congressional PAD Caucus. In May 2024, Illinois became the first state to pass legislation modeled after the ARC Act, mandating PAD screening coverage for at-risk individuals. Dr. Fakorede serves on the Board of Directors for the Amputee Coalition and holds leadership roles in several national medical societies. He is the PAD Initiative Chair for the Association of Black Cardiologists and has contributed to influential bodies such as the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), the American Heart Association PAD National Action Plan, the Society of Interventional Radiology, and the ACC/AHA PAD guideline peer review committee. His groundbreaking work has been recognized with the American Heart Association’s 2023 Louis B. Russell Award, the Association of Black Cardiologists’ 2024 Public Policy Award, and inclusion in the 2024 STAT News STATUS List, which honors the most impactful leaders in health, medicine, and science. At the state level, Dr. Fakorede has served as Vice Chairman of the Mississippi State Medical Association’s Minority Affairs Section and as District 1 Representative on the MSMA Council on Legislation. He advises the Mississippi Alliance for Cardiovascular Health and the Mississippi Department of Health’s Diabetes Advisory Council, working tirelessly to transform public health policy and outcomes across Mississippi and beyond.

Georges C. Benjamin, M.D. is known as one of the nation’s most influential physician leaders because he speaks passionately and eloquently about the health issues having the most impact on our nation today. From his firsthand experience as a physician, he knows what happens when preventive care is not available and when the healthy choice is not the easy choice. As executive director of APHA since 2002, he is leading the Association’s push to make America the healthiest nation.

He came to APHA from his position as secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Dr. Benjamin became secretary of health in Maryland in April 1999, following four years as its deputy secretary for public health services. As secretary, Dr. Benjamin oversaw the expansion and improvement of the state’s Medicaid program.

Dr. Benjamin, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He is board-certified in internal medicine and a master of the American College of Physicians, a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a fellow emeritus of the American College of Emergency Physicians, an honorary fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health.

Dr. Benjamin is an active member of the National Academy of Public Administration and the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. He serves on the boards of many nonprofit organizations including Research!America, the Truth Initiative, the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, the Environmental Defense Fund and Ceres. Dr. Benjamin is also a former member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which advises the president on how best to assure the security of the nation’s critical infrastructure.