As Senior Director for R&D Patient Science, Lisa Kerr is leading the development of AstraZeneca’s R&D Patient Centricity Framework within the Chief Medical Office. With over 20 years' experience in Pharma, across R&D, Digital and Operations, leading the development of some of AZ’s most complex products, she is now focused on driving scientific and digital innovation with a passion for people to bring the voice of patients into into the heart of clinical trial design and execution in AZ.

Ms Kerr is also a key leader in I&D, as Founder and Executive Sponsor for Safe Space – AZ’s Mental Health Awareness Employee Resource Group, which has grown to over 3,500 members with Chapters in 5 continents. She has raised the profile of mental health within AZ, including co-development with Microsoft of the HealthyMind app in MSTeams - so all employees can simply access the relevant mental health support in their locations, in their languages via a digital flowchart. Recognizing when suffering from mental health issues, finding information in complex suites of brochures and websites is challenging even for highly educated technology literate professionals… the app was designed with patients, for patients.

Her drive to combine science, technology with a human-centric approach underpins her ambition to transform AZs R&D process to deliver Patient-Centric and Inclusive trials, that also make a positive measurable impact on health outcomes and the business. Outside of work, apart from being a mum/step-mum to three teenagers she can usually be found walking her dog, singing, cooking and eating or all of the above!

Catherine Koola Fischer serves as the Director of Patient Engagement for the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) and is committed to strengthening the patient voice within ICER value assessments. Her role includes outreach and onboarding for ICER reviews, enhancing ICER’s resources to be more patient-friendly, and nurturing relationships with patient community partners. She serves as the Co-Chair of ICER’s Patient Council which was formally launched in July of 2023. In addition, Ms Koola Fischer is a Steering Committee member of HTAi’s Patient and Citizen Involvement Interest Group (PCIG) as well as the US HTA representative for the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC)’s Health Economics Patient Value (HEPV)’s working group. Ms Koola Fischer has her MPH in Epidemiology from Emory University and her BS in Psychology from Texas A&M University.

With over a decade of experience working directly with patients and sites, Rachael MacQueen, MBA, is no stranger to understanding patient burden. She has spent the bulk of her career helping to build better, more efficient, patient and site friendly trials through patient centric solutions.

In her current role, as Senior Manager, Patient Centricity with Moderna she ensures that in all the trials Moderna delivers, they are considering novel solutions that meet patient needs and that their trials are designed and executed with those needs in mind.

Before Moderna, she was Director of Delivery for the Patient Experience Unit of CorEvitas, where she played a key leadership role and led the operational delivery of research services for qualitative and quantitative patient insights.

Ms MacQueen received her Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

A native of Puerto Rico, Irisaida Méndez is a seasoned Multicultural Communications and crisis management executive with over 20 years experience leading National and Global initiatives.

A mother of four, first diagnosed with gynecological cancer in 2017, which remotely metastasized after nearly one year in remission. Following her stage IV diagnosis, Ms Méndez challenged chemo-brain side effects by studying to become a certified end-of-life doula. She then launched IMKahlo, an organization that helps women boost their confidence and courage with tools to help cope with the side effects of chemo, radio and immunotherapy. Through IMKahlo, she also encourages patients to take control of their end-of-life wishes by normalizing death conversations and life planning, such as creating legacy projects to be remembered by.

Ms Méndez has been a guest speaker at many state and national conferences and advocacy events. “Research saved my life,” she says. This is why her IMKahlo team and she participate in the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb stair-hikes. Additionally, she has served as the Mission Chair for this event for the past two years and the current year, inspiring participants to use laughter to expand their lungs, catch a breath of (clean/fresh) air and climb for hope.

Ms Méndez collaborates regularly with non-profits and Latin American Organizations in the U.S. She serves as a member of the Latino Leadership Council at Compassion and Choices. For the past two years, she has taken the role of LUNG FORCE representative for the state of Florida, carrying on advocacy efforts in Capitol Hill, raising awareness about the need for NIH funding to keep performing research and the importance of affordable healthcare for everyone.

From Virgin Atlantic’s award winning service to the exemplary front of house service at the London 2012’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, Linda Moir has been responsible for her outstanding operations in HR and customer service management. Ms Moir’s career took off with British Airways, where she worked in HR for air traffic control before rising to HR Director of National Air Traffic Services. In her time spent at the UK’s largest airline, Ms Moir experienced an environment of significant changes as the company transitioned from public to private ownership. In 2003, Sir Richard Branson hired Ms Moir to ‘make flying fun’ as Virgin Atlantic’s Director of In Flight Services, and she certainly did: after completely overhauling the training, recruitment, promotion and performance management of 5,000 Cabin Crew, the highest customer satisfaction scores in the airline’s history were recorded. Throughout the process, she oversaw significant business growth whilst consistently driving the airline’s catchy promise of ‘Brilliant Basics, Magic Touches’. When it was announced that London would host the 2012 Olympic Games, Ms Moir knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and that she had to be involved. She developed the powerful ‘blended team’ approach, combining professional stewards with volunteer ‘Games Makers’; consequently, the tarnished reputation of the British service industry was profusely redeemed through a three-year programme of engagement, and the Games Makers became one of the most iconic and memorable symbols of the games. Ms Moir’s unparalleled success in HR and customer service management serves as an inspiring model of performance delivered through people.

Ifeyinwa (Ify) Osunkwo, MD, MPH, is the chief patient officer of Novo Nordisk Rare disease. Prior to this she served as the inaugural chief patient officer and senior vice president at Forma Therapeutics. In her role, Dr Osunkwo is responsible for realizing Novo’s vision to transform the lives of patients by improving access and care through partnerships with global patient and community stakeholders while driving an internal culture of patient focused medicine development. Dr Osunkwo is an internationally acclaimed expert in the research, treatment and care delivery of sickle cell disease (SCD), pediatric to adult care transition, and the management of chronic pain. She has a passion for health equity and has focused her research on identifying the comparative effectiveness of interventions in eliminating health disparities in Black and brown populations. She has more than 25 years of experience in clinical management, population health using the chronic disease management model and health literacy. She is an accomplished clinician educator adept at training clinical and non-clinical audiences and is also a visionary leader in pragmatic program development and implementation using quality improvement.

Dr Osunkwo is the Founder & Director of the Sickle Cell Disease Enterprise at Levine Cancer Institute and a Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Atrium Health - a vertically integrated healthcare system serving 1400+ adults and 400+ children with sickle cell disease in NC/SC/GA. Previously, she was the medical director of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta @ Egleston and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University. She directed the Teen Scene Transition Program that provided care coordination and education to facilitate the smooth transition of young adults from pediatrics to adult care. Dr Osunkwo earned a medical degree from the University of Nigeria College of Medical Sciences and Dentistry and an MPH from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. She received her pediatric residency training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and completed her fellowship in pediatric hematology, oncology and bone marrow transplantation at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr Osunkwo is board certified in pediatric hematology oncology and has led a robust research enterprise garnering over $15 million in research funding and has served as principal investigator on numerous clinical trials over the course of her career.

Emily Parks is a chronically ill young professional based out of the Washington DC area working in behavioral health and patient advocacy. Having been diagnosed with short bowel syndrome in infancy and unable to absorb nutrition orally, she was dependent on Parenteral Nutrition until receiving an isolated small bowel transplant from MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

Despite these challenges, Ms Parks has both traveled and lived internationally, is a graduate of Boston University and currently works outside of Washington DC as a Supervising Vocational Specialist. In this role, she coordinated a team that aids individuals with mental illness in obtaining and maintaining employment. Combining her expertise in behavioral health with her lived experience of navigating multiple tertiary hospitals firsthand has led her down the path of studying the impact of medical trauma and medical PTSD on patients and their treatment outcomes as well as the power of conscious communication throughout the US healthcare system.

Ms Parks serves as the Massachusetts Pilot Director for Health Advocacy Summit, a member of Young Adult Representatives of RDLA through the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases, the secretary of MedStar Georgetown Hospital’s Patient & Family Advisory Council for Quality and Safety and has been an invited speaker at multiple national forums.

Heather Pin has spent most of her career in project, program and change management for pharma software development and implementation. She joined Sanofi in 2014, and currently works in the global Patient Informed Development & Health Value Translation department. Ms Pin and her team drive reporting and impact measures with a razor-sharp focus on commitment to listening and translating patient concerns and insights. This analytical data provided by Ms Pin and her team delivers new health care solutions so that patients can experience improved quality of life. Ms Pin’s other duties include providing operational, interdepartmental and business management solutions.

Racquel Racadio, MPH, is the Global Director of External Medical Engagement in Amgen’s R&D Organization. She provides strategic leadership in the external healthcare ecosystem via relationships with professional societies, cooperative groups and thought leaders. She also partners with internal and external teams to advance patient engagement, health equity and diversity in clinical research goals. She founded and, until a few months ago, directed Amgen’s RISE (Representation in Clinical Research) Team, which is fully dedicated to improving the diversity and representation of patients and investigators from historically excluded groups across Amgen’s clinical research programs. In that role, Ms Racadio oversaw the embedding of inclusive research principles across the clinical trial lifecycle and drove engagement with the broader stakeholder community to listen, learn and partner on efforts pursuing greater health equity. Ms Racadio has been with Amgen for 5 years and in the life sciences for 15 years, bringing an extensive background in developing and executing clinical trials and public health research studying racial, ethnic and gender-related disparities in health care access and health outcomes.

Swathi Ramesh is the Director of Patient-Centered Developed for the Early and Late Respiratory and Immunology (R&I) Therapeutic Areas at AstraZeneca. In this role, she works closely with the Chief Medical Office’s Patient Sciences team to deliver patient centric services to program and clinical trial teams in R&I. This includes the areas of patient insights, clinical trial diversity and inclusion and collaborating with patient organizations. Prior to this role, she started in MedImmune as a Clinical Project Manager, overseeing early R&I studies. She continued this role within AstraZeneca, where she also managed a COVID-19 clinical trial. She has extensive knowledge about clinical operations, patient centricity within R&D in pharma. Before this, she worked in the hospital setting as a research coordinator, managing clinical trials in numerous therapeutic areas which include: neurology, neurosurgery, cardio-thoracic surgery, interventional cardiology, hepatology and infectious diseases. She is passionate about advocating for the patient and site voices in clinical trial drug development and looks forward to contributing to the fast-growing landscape of patient centricity within drug developing to co-create studies with patients.

Peter Schaeffer, MBA, has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for approximately 20 years in both the Pre-Clinical and Clinical areas. During this time, he worked in roles to improve performance and decision making, led continuous improvement programs and collaborated with teams to drive new ways of working. In his current role of Digital and Process Optimization at GSK, Mr Schaeffer is focused on finding and implementing digital health solutions to improve patient, site and sponsor ability to deliver clinical trials. He also co-leads the Patient Experience workstream for TransCelerate, aiming to improve participant experience on trials.

Regan Sherman has a diverse work experience in the field of patient advocacy and communications. Ms Sherman most recently was the Director & Head of Patient Advocacy at Entrada Therapeutics, where they were responsible for establishing and leading patient advocacy engagement. Prior to that, they worked at Orphazyme A/S from 2018 to 2021, serving as the Director & Head of Patient Advocacy Relations. At Sanofi Genzyme, they held the position of Associate Director of Rare Diseases Patient Advocacy from 2015 to 2018, managing relationships with the rare disease patient community and facilitating partnerships with patient organizations. Before that, Ms Sherman worked at JPA Health Communications as an Account Director from 2011 to 2015, specializing in advocacy relations for healthcare clients. From 2008 to 2011, they directed communications activities at the Cancer Support Community, and from 2006 to 2008, they were a Coordinator for Scientific Programs at the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Ms Sherman attended James Madison University from 2002 to 2006 where they obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Health Communication Studies.