Jennifer Hawks Bland

Jennifer Hawks Bland is the Chief Executive Officer of NewYorkBIO. Prior to joining NewYorkBIO, Ms. Bland was an Executive Director in the State Government Affairs & Policy group at Merck. She has also held government affairs positions at GlaxoSmithKline and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), the 136-year old trade association representing manufacturers of over-the- counter medicines. Ms. Bland previously was an associate with the Jackson, MS law firm of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens, & Cannada, PLLC where she principally practiced in the area of products liability litigation. Before entering the practice of law, she worked for six years for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (RMiss.). Ms. Bland is a member of both the District of Columbia and Mississippi Bar Associations. She also has extensive volunteer experience and is currently the PTA co-president of her child’s school and sits on the Board of the Pelham Art Center. Ms. Bland currently resides in Pelham, New York with her husband, R. Trabue Bland and their two sons.

Tracey Meeks

Sneha Dave

Sneha Dave graduated from Indiana University in May 2020 where she majored in chronic illness advocacy as well as journalism. She created Generation Patient and its program the Crohn’s and Colitis Young Adults Network (CCYAN) with support from foundations such as the Helmsley Charitable Trust and Arnold Ventures to create support systems for adolescents and young adults with chronic medical disabilities across the U.S. and internationally. She is proud to work with a team composed entirely of young adults with chronic medical disabilities and also to keep Generation Patient and CCYAN independent from the pharmaceutical and insurance industries.

Sneha has completed an undergraduate research Fellowship in health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She has also interned at numerous places such as Pfizer in health economics and outcomes research for Inflammation and Immunology. Sneha has spoken on Capitol Hill, featured nationally on C-SPAN, and is a past contributor for U.S. News and World Report. She has served on the Democratic National Committee Disability Policy Subcommittee and recently joined the Midwest Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council, an independent appraisal committee of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. She also serves on the FDA Patient Engagement Collaborative Sneha was awarded two academic fellowships with the Association of Health Care Journalists. Sneha has spoken at the Democratic National Convention, Stanford Medicine X, the National Academies of Medicine, and other major avenues. For her work, Sneha was selected as one of the most influential teenagers in 2018 by the We Are Family Foundation and was recognized as an American Association of People with Disabilities Emerging Leader in 2020.

Yihenew Abetu

Yihenew Abetu is the recently appointed Clinical Trials Director for Downstate Medical Center, at the SUNY Research Foundation. Yihenew comes to the Research Foundation with many years of clinical trial management experience in various disease specialties. Prior to SUNY Downstate Yihenew was the Director of Clinical Research for one of the largest health systems in New York with 23 hospitals and over 800 outpatient clinics. During his time at Northwell Health in the Office of Clinical Research Yihenew was the recipient of the year 2020’s “Leader of the Year” award for research by Feinstein Institute for Research. He also served as one of the original members of Clinical Trial Advisory Committee at Northwell Health. Yihenew is a certified Clinical Research Coordinator and a Certified Project Manager through the Association for Clinical Research Professionals. Yihenew received his Bachelor's of Arts degree from CUNY Hunter College and his Master’s degree from Zarb School of business at Hofstra University in Strategic Healthcare Management.

Jordyne Blaise

Jordyne Blaise, Esq., is a diversity, inclusion, and equity consultant and strategist. She is the current Vice President for Equity and Community Engagement at Circuit Clinical, an integrated research organization growing a network of clinical trial sites in underserved communities. Jordyne earned her Bachelor of Arts in English, with a minor in African American studies, and her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University in Washington, DC and is licensed to practice law in the state of Florida. Jordyne’s work as a DEI expert comes from a career in Civil Rights enforcement and diversity change management at various companies and organizations including bluebird bio, articulate global, Harvard Law School, and Johns Hopkins University.

Erica Courtenay-Mann

Erica Courtenay-Mann was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in 2011 after it attacked her larynx and deactivated one of her vocal cords. It was later detected in her lungs, resulting in pulmonary sarcoidosis. After a bout of remission due to the various treatment and lifestyle changes, Erica came out of remission in 2017 and now has oral / perioral sarcoidosis.

A three card-Monty winner with sarcoidosis does not stop her from being a FSR advocate, talking with others about living with a chronic illness, and enjoying all that life has to offer. Erica holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago, although she has 30+ years in the financial service industry, her true passion is helping others. Through her volunteerism / community service with the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council, the Post Oak Chapter of the National Charity League, Inc., and being a Member of the Women of Color Patient Advisory Committee, Erica is committed to showing the world that a sarcoidosis diagnosis doesn’t stop you from having a dynamic and purpose-filled life.

Alicia Staley

Alicia has over 20 years of experience in software design and information systems management. She has a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Syracuse University and from Boston University with a Masters of Information Systems and an MBA.

At Medidata, Alicia works to infuse the patient perspective throughout the product development lifecycle and help engage patients in novel ways. Alicia is also a three-time cancer survivor, first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease as a sophomore during college.

Over the past 10 years, she's applied her engineering background to improve the patient experience for those dealing with cancer. With an extensive network of patient advocates and non-profit organizations, she collaborates with a wide range of stakeholders to help improve processes and policies that impact cancer care.

Indie Lee

“You have six months to live.”
This is what countless medical professionals told Indie Lee after she was diagnosed with a life threatening brain tumor in 2008. Doctors felt that the tumor could be environmentally derived and attributed to something as simple as what she was putting on her skin.
This was her awakening.
After surviving a successful surgery on Earth Day 2009 (yes, really.), she embarked upon a new journey - a clean beauty collection dedicated to inspiring and empowering others to be mindful about what they put on their skin as well as into their body.
“When I was given a finite amount of time to live, the world became technicolor - I now appreciate every moment and I feel very fortunate to be creating a platform that will allow others to do the same. Education and empowerment are my driving forces and this line is the medium enabling me to pay my knowledge forward.” -Indie
Today, Indie works with some of the world’s leading chemists and formulators who share her vision
for the beauty and wellness industry, working to bring the cleanest, most efficacious formulas and
products to market. She has spoken about her mission at events such as SXSW and PopSugar Play/Ground. She also serves on the FIDM Beauty Program’s Advisory Council.
It is her sincere hope that her awakening creates change and inspires others to make healthier choices.

Eric Gascho

Eric Gascho is the Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs. He has been with the National Health Council since August 2009. In his role, Gascho leads the National Health Council’s advocacy efforts by working with its member organizations to develop policy positions that seek to improve the lives of people with chronic diseases and disabilities and advocating for these policies on Capitol Hill and within the executive branch. He also represents the NHC in the national media, the broader health care community through public speaking engagements, and in coalitions. Gascho serves on the Steering Committee of the Partnership to Protect Coverage and the NIH’s PCOR Chronic Conditions Monitoring Board.

Prior to joining the NHC, he worked in the government relations department of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

Gascho earned his BA degrees in government and business management from the University of Redlands in California.

Sarah Krüg

Sarah Krüg is the CEO of the Health Collaboratory, a global innovation hub that’s focused on cultivating trust in healthcare and advancing health equity by amplifying the voices of patients, care partners and health care professionals in the design, development and continuous improvement of healthcare innovations. The Health Collaboratory has launched various innovations such as Prescription to Learn®, a Health GPS, and the Patient Shark Tank®, among others. Through the Patient Shark Tank ®, over 25,000 patients and care partners across disease states have provided their perspectives and insights on innovations across the globe, including technology, research education and policy.
Sarah is also the Executive Director of CANCER101, a patient advocacy organization, whose mission is to help patients and their families navigate the cancer journey and partner with their healthcare team to make informed decisions. Sarah is the author of “A Roadmap to Wellness” with another book to launch in 2023. She is also a global speaker and recently gave a TEDx talk called “The Patient: Doctor Tango”.
She previously held the position of Global Education Director, as well as Patient Advocacy Lead at Pfizer. She also established the Global Investigator Initiated Research Program at Pfizer. Prior to joining Pfizer, Sarah spearheaded the development of the Disease Management Clinical Pathways and conducted clinical research at Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center.

Luke Rosen

Luke is Founder and Board Chair of KIF1A.ORG. Luke and his wife, Sally, started KIF1A.ORG in 2016 following their daughter Susannah’s diagnosis of a rare neurological disease caused by a mutation in her KIF1A gene. In 2017 Luke left a successful career in film and television to accelerate discovery of treatment for Susannah and children like her. KIF1A.ORG is a global community working to drive translational research and develop treatments for KIF1A Associated Neurological Disorder. With a focus on access to genetic testing, research strategy and outcome measures, Luke’s mission is to forge efficient collaborations within the scientific and patient communities resulting in treatment for KIF1A Associated Neurological Disorder, and other rare neurological diseases affecting children. He sits on the advisory boards of Congenica, Rare-X, and Parents for Inclusive Education.

Luke also serves as senior vice president of Accelerated Development and Community Engagement at Ovid Therapeutics. He is responsible for strengthening Ovid’s patient-driven approach to rapid development of meaningful medicines. Luke works closely with rare disease stakeholders to form efficient collaborations powered to impact patients, expand Ovid’s research pipeline, and advance clinical programs. Mr. Rosen joined Ovid to accelerate research, discovery, and development of treatments for rare, neurological, and genetic diseases. Luke is a passionate advocate for rare disease policy, access to diagnostics and inclusive education. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Master of Science in Bioethics and is a graduate of the British Academy of Dramatic Arts at the University of Oxford.

Grant Cale

Grant Cale is the Senior Director of Alliance Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global BioPharma company focused on its mission to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines to patients with serious diseases. As the Senior Director of Alliance Development and has the pleasure to lead a team of the most passionate colleagues on pro-patient pro-access opportunities and other issues impacting patients.
• Grant has been in the industry for 31 years holding position in alliance development, leadership, state government affairs, training, Operations and Commercial (sales). Grant has had strong passion for the patient and the importance of the “voice of the patient”. Over his tenure he has collaborated with many patient/provider organizations in the field of Oncology/Hematology, Immunology, Cardiovascular, Mental health and HIV.
He currently serves on the BMS Veteran Community Network (VCN) as Region Chapter lead for BMS, volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and also served as the Vice Chair in Iowa for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturer of America (PhRMA). Grant earned his degree in Business (Marketing) at Illinois State University.

Brianna Worden

Brianna is from upstate NY and is the current Miss New York International 2022 and 2020 Children’s Tumor Foundation Ambassador. She enjoys theater arts and uses her voice and story to help find a cure for Neurofibromatosis (NF), a genetic disorder in which she was born with. Throughout Brianna‘s academic career, she struggled to find balance between her health and her education. She often felt like she could not fit in with her peers. This became a catalyst in her goals of public speaking and creating a safe environment for students. She’s studying school counseling, and hopes to bridge the gap between students with chronic health disparities, and education.

Hillary Savoie

Maya Bermingham

Maya Bermingham, JD, joined Regeneron in 2015 and serves as Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Government Affairs. Ms. Bermingham and her Washington, DC-based team play a critical role in helping Regeneron shape and maintain its industry-leading reputation among governmental stakeholders. In 2020, Ms. Bermingham stepped forward to also serve as the company’s interim head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I). Prior to joining Regeneron, Ms. Bermingham held roles of increasing responsibility at PhRMA over a 12 year tenure, following earlier positions at legal firms, and work for Senator Moynihan and the Senate Finance Committee. She received her BA from Harvard University and her JD from New York University.

Dr. Gary Puckrein

Dr. Gary Puckrein is the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF), a non-profit healthcare research, education, and advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, DC.

The mission of NMQF is to reduce patient risk by assuring optimal care for all. NMQF conducts evidence-based, data-driven initiatives to eliminate premature death and preventable illness. NMQF’s vision is an American health services research, delivery, and financing system whose operating principle is to reduce patient risk for amenable morbidity and mortality while improving quality of life.

Dr. Puckrein received his doctorate from Brown University.

Jen Roman

Jen Roman is a 27 year old patient advocate living with Secondary Intracranial Hypertension, Behçets Disease, and Parkinson’s. Instilled with a classic sense of Jersey-grit and a passion for helping others, she was a firefighter/EMT prior to becoming disabled. After enduring ten brain procedures, Jen utilized her medical knowledge to become an expert, not only on the conditions that impact her, but also the technology that provides critical relief and management to her daily life. She spends most of her time fighting for legislation as a patient advocate, volunteering for multiple organizations, sharing her story via blogs and podcasts, and helping anyone who requires assistance on their medical journey.

Christopher Cox

Christopher Cox now serves as Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke of New York’s 9th Congressional District. He has also served as the Senior Policy Adviser with focus on health care and telecommunications.

Joanna Pascal

The Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation (CCF) is a national patient advocacy organization dedicated to saving lives and improving the quality of life for those affected by pediatric cardiomyopathy - a chronic and life-threatening heart disease. Cardiomyopathy is a leading cause of heart transplants and sudden cardiac arrest in the young. CCF’s mission is to accelerate the search for cures by supporting research on pediatric cardiomyopathy, educating physicians and patients, and by increasing awareness and advocacy related to the needs of affected children and their families.

Michael Davoli

MIchael Davoli is the Senior Director of Government Relations – New York, for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). He was born and raised in Syracuse New York where he attended the University at Albany, earning a double B.A. in political science and public administration and history.
For ten years he has served in several roles at ACS CAN including leading ACS CAN’s statewide grassroots network in New York, managing ACS CAN’s public policy work in New York City, and most recently serving as ACS CAN’s Director of Government Relations in New Jersey before being named Senior Director of Government Relations – New York.

Dr. Wojciech Swat

Dr Swat is a board certified clinical molecular geneticist holding certifications of American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) and European Board of Medical Genetics (EMBG). He joined GenPath/ BRLI in 2020 after a two decade-long tenure as Professor of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO.

Dr Swat’s graduate training was conducted at the Basel Institute for Immunology with Harald von Boehmer and his postdoctoral training with Frederick W Alt at Harvard Medical School. He has been distinguished as a Scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and received several awards including Howard Hughes Medical Institute, American Cancer Society, Arthritis Foundation, and Irene Duggan/Irvington Institute scholarships. He contributed more than 100 research publications becoming one of the most highly-cited leaders in the field of immunology and cancer biology with over 11,000 literature citations (Google Scholar h-index 52, i10-index 75).

Tiffany Westrich-Robertson

Tiffany Westrich-Robertson is the CEO at the International Foundation for Autoimmune & Autoinflammatory Arthritis (AiArthritis) and a person living with axial spondyloarthritis. She uses her professional background in business, research, and college educator – along with role as a person living with AiArthritis diseases – to connect other patients worldwide with various stakeholders so, together, they can solve patient-reported problems that focus on unmet needs.

In 2015, she authored the Ethics of Step Therapy paper, concluding preferred drug recommendations are biased towards patients who meet general patient population standards. Since then, she has led AiArthritis in efforts to advocate in favor of fair access to treatments for individual needs, with a focus on research that can influence policy as we move into an era of precision medicine.

She is the leader of the ACTion Council - an international coalition of stakeholders invested in advancing patient inclusion in research - and recently spearheaded the development of their first tool that aims to help those designing rheumatology research projects that involve patients in the process.

Tiffany is well-respected in the healthcare community, serving on several committees in both policy and research, including with the American College of Rheumatology and OMERACT (Outcome Measures in Rheumatology). She also holds an advisory board seat on the Missouri State University Design Thinking program, helping other executives execute projects in a systematic, yet creatively innovative, manner.

Dr. Carl Morrison

Dr. Carl D. Morrison joined the faculty of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in January 2007, and is currently the Chair of the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Senior Vice President of Scientific Development and Integrative Medicine, and Professor of Oncology. Prior to coming to Roswell Park, Dr. Morrison spent five years as faculty at The Ohio State University Medical Center after completing his residency there in Anatomic Pathology. Dr. Morrison is a board-certified pathologist with a Certificate of Qualification in Oncology in NYS who has an interest in both clinical and research areas.

As Senior Vice President of Scientific Development and Integrative Medicine, Dr. Morrison supports the development of new core capabilities and technology platforms in order to conduct highly integrative research across both the basic sciences and clinical care. As Chair of the Department of Pathology Dr Morrison leads our clinical laboratories that provide an essential component of patient care.

Kerry Wong

After too many years with doctors who either didn't believe her or couldn't figure things out, Kerry was eventually diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Sarcoidosis, Small Fiber Neuropathy, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Sjögren's Syndrome (to name a few). As these conditions took their toll and she became less physically able, Kerry became empowered to use her voice to advocate for herself and for patients like her. Her primary goals are to help other chronic illness warriors know they are not alone in their experience and to help those who care about these warriors to get a better understanding of what that experience entails.

Kerry currently volunteers as New York State Advocacy Chair and Platinum Ambassador with Arthritis Foundation, and Patient Advocate and Peer Mentor with Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research. She has also advocated with the American College of Rheumatology, Support Fibromyalgia Network, and Rare Disease Legislative Advocates. Aside from advocacy, Kerry does all she can to support the arthritis, sarcoidosis, and chronic illness communities. Most recently, she has become a columnist with Sarcoidosis News, sharing her experience and insights, inviting others to Float Like a Buttahfly with her.

Jennifer Hawks Bland

Jennifer Hawks Bland is the Chief Executive Officer of NewYorkBIO. Prior to joining NewYorkBIO, Ms. Bland was an Executive Director in the State Government Affairs & Policy group at Merck. She has also held government affairs positions at GlaxoSmithKline and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), the 136-year old trade association representing manufacturers of over-the- counter medicines. Ms. Bland previously was an associate with the Jackson, MS law firm of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens, & Cannada, PLLC where she principally practiced in the area of products liability litigation. Before entering the practice of law, she worked for six years for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (RMiss.). Ms. Bland is a member of both the District of Columbia and Mississippi Bar Associations. She also has extensive volunteer experience and is currently the PTA co-president of her child’s school and sits on the Board of the Pelham Art Center. Ms. Bland currently resides in Pelham, New York with her husband, R. Trabue Bland and their two sons.