Board of Directors

Dr.Fallon has recently retired from being the Chief Physician Executive and Senior Vice President at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts for over eight years. He is responsible for ensuring the highest standards of medical care for its members. He is also accountable for helping expand health care strategies involving quality, effectiveness, efficiency and their relationships to new payment methodologies. He oversees the company’s medical policies, acts as the main liaison with the plan’s provider network, reviews upcoming legislation for medical impact, manages the company’s medical directors, acts as primary spokesperson for medical inquires and is the main medical contact with the National Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its 39 plans across the country, covering almost 100 million members.

Prior to coming to BCBSMA, he was CEO for the entire clinical enterprise at the State University of New York’s Downstate Medical Center, including University Hospital of Brooklyn and the clinical faculty practice plan. He still maintains his academic appointment as Clinical Professor in the Graduate Program of Public Health. His professional experiences also include the Partners Healthcare System, where he was Chairman of the physician network. Dr. Fallon was also the founder and CEO of North Shore Health System, a large physician-hospital organization in Massachusetts. He is Chair of the National Council of Physician Executives at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

He serves on many boards; locally, among them are NEHI (Chair), nationally NCQA Medical Standards (Chair), New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (CEPAC) and Temple University School of Medicine Board of Advisors. Dr. Fallon practiced Internal Medicine for over 20 years; did his residency at Boston City Hospital; is Board Certified in Internal Medicine; and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Henri A. Termeer was appointed president of Genzyme Corporation in 1983, two years after the company's founding. He became its chief executive officer in 1985 and chairman in 1988. Under his leadership, Genzyme has grown from a modest entrepreneurial venture to one of the world's leading biotechnology companies, and in 2007, Genzyme was chosen to receive the National Medal of Technology, the highest honor awarded by the President of the United States for technological innovation.
Mr. Termeer is recognized as a pioneer in developing and delivering treatments to patients with rare genetic diseases around the world. He is a trustee for the Boston Museum of Science, a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation and a member of the board of directors of Project HOPE, an international nonprofit health education and humanitarian assistance organization.

Widely acknowledged for his contributions to the biotechnology industry and health care field, Mr. Termeer serves on the board of directors of both the Biotechnology Industry Organization and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. He is a director of Massachusetts General Hospital and is a member of the board of fellows of Harvard Medical School. In addition, Mr. Termeer is deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's board of directors and a member of the board of directors of Abiomed Inc. He was also instrumental in founding the New England Healthcare Institute.

A Native of the Netherlands, Mr. Termeer studied economics at the Economische Hogeschool (Erasmus University, The Netherlands) and earned an M.B.A from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.

Jonathan J. Fleming is Treasurer of NEHI's Board of Director and Currently serves as the President and CEO of Q-State Bioscience. Since 1999, Mr. Fleming has been the Managing Partner of Oxford Bioscience Partners, an international venture capital firm specializing in life science investments, based in Boston, MA. Mr. Fleming has been in the investment business for more than 31 years, starting and financing growth companies in the United States, Europe, Israel and Asia. Prior to joining Oxford Bioscience Partners in 1996, he was a Founding General Partner of MVP Ventures in Boston, MA. He began his investment career with TVM Techno Venture Management in Munich, Germany. Mr. Fleming also co-founded Medica Venture Partners, a venture capital investment firm specializing in early stage health care and biotechnology companies in Israel, and the Korea Seoul Life Science Fund, based in Seoul, Korea. Mr. Fleming is a director of Xencor (NASDAQ: XNCR) and several private early stage life science companies. He is also a director of Leerink Partners, a Boston based investment bank specializing in health care companies. In addition, Mr. Fleming has been a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management since 2003, where he co-teaches a class on business strategy for life science managers. Mr. Fleming holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Beverly H. Lorell, MD, is the Senior Medical and Policy Advisor with King & Spalding's FDA/Healthcare Practice Group in Washington, D.C. Dr. Lorell specializes in the areas of clinical trial design of studies for drugs, devices and biologics; review of pre-market submissions; recalls; and assessment of matters involving a risk to health. She also specializes in the area of physician and industry relations and the development of independent scientific panels to advise health industries.

Prior to joining King & Spalding, Dr. Lorell served as Vice President and global Chief Medical and Technology Officer at Guidant Corporation. She was also a professor at Harvard Medical School. During this time she also served the federal government in multiple roles including as a federally funded investigator of the National Institutes of Health and on the Food and Drug Administration's Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee.

Dr. Lorell has served in national leadership positions in professional societies. She was an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association (AHA). Additional honors include election as Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) and the American Heart Association (FAHA) and founding member of the Heart Failure Society of America. Recent national leadership roles included the national Executive Committee of the Task Force on Clinical Competence of the ACC, AHA and American College of Physicians. She continues to be an active invited lecturer at national professional meetings, as well as Harvard Law School and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Lorell is a graduate of Stanford University, and she received her medical degree and her Residency in Internal Medicine from Stanford University Medical School. She received her advanced training as a Fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine at Harvard University. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, the Subspecialty Board of Cardiovascular Disease, and the Subspecialty Board of Interventional Cardiology. She is admitted to practice medicine in the states of California and Massachusetts. She is the author of over 160 medical science publications, 26 chapters and 2 books, including 8 recent publications in the area of health policy.

Justine M. Carr, MD retired as Chief Medical Officer of Steward Health Care System in 2016 and now serves on the Steward Board of Directors. Steward, the largest for-profit private hospital operator in the US, is a physician-led health care services organization.. Headquartered in Boston, Steward operates 38 community hospitals in the United States and the country of Malta. During her tenure as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Carr led initiatives in quality and safety, implementing best practices in clinical excellence and prevention of harm, as well as system-wide clinical integration and standardization of policies and protocols. Steward Hospitals regularly receive top awards for quality and safety.

Nationally Dr. Carr chaired the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, an 18- member committee advisory to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on health data strategy. She was a member for a decade (2004- 2014), serving also as co- chair of the NCVHS Quality Subcommittee. NCVHS holds hearings and makes recommendations to the Secretary in areas of population health, quality, data standards, administrative simplification and privacy. Dr. Carr was also first chair of the NCVHS Working Group on HHS Data Access and Use, advising on use of HHS data that has been made available to the public.

Dr. Carr has been an invited participant in national and state initiatives related to health care quality and safety and data stewardship, including Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ); Institute of Medicine Digital Learning Collaborative; SEIU Partnership for Quality Care. Since 2012 she has been a Board member of NEHI, a national health policy research organization focused on enabling innovation in health care. She has served on the Health Information Technology Council of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She is member, director and vice president of the Sarita Kenedy East Foundation (New York).

Dr. Carr has been recognized for leadership through various awards, including:
Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, Dolores L. Mitchell Investing in Information Award, honoring “organizations and individuals who have invested capital, knowledge and leadership to use information to innovate health care delivery, financing and policy.”

Dr. Carr is an internist and hematologist and formerly held assistant professor positions in Medicine, Surgery and Pathology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Carr received her medical degree at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and trained at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Hospital. She subsequently held clinical and administrative roles at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Chris Coburn is Vice President, Innovation, Partners HealthCare. Based in Boston, Partners is largest academic research enterprise in the United States with greater than $1.5 billion in annual research. The Partners HealthCare system consists of Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital – ranked #1 and #6 in the nation, respectively, by US News & World Report – as well as McLean Hospital and others. Partners faculty are appointed at Harvard Medical School.

Mr. Coburn leads a team of more than 80 tasked with the commercial application of the discoveries and unique capabilities of Partners’ 60,000 employees. His unit’s responsibilities include business development, company creation, licensing, investment, cooperative agreements, and management of all technological breakthroughs of Partners’ staff. 2015 commercialization revenue exceeded $110 million.
Prior to joining Partners, Mr. Coburn founded Cleveland Clinic Innovations and served for 13 years as its Executive Director. During his tenure Cleveland Clinic spun off 57 companies that raised more than $700 million in equity financing. Cleveland Clinic had no technology based spin-offs before Coburn’s arrival. He also implemented a national Innovation Alliance in which Cleveland Clinic managed technology commercialization for healthcare systems throughout the United States.
Mr.Coburn has served on numerous corporate and community boards including Explorys (acquired by IBM), Autonomic Technologies, and the U.S. Enrichment Corporation (NYSE:USU). He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Assessing the Value of Research in Meeting National Goals. He is a former Vice President and General Manager of Battelle Memorial Institute. He has consulted, testified and spoken on innovation and commercialization throughout North America and in more than 30 countries. He and his wife, Nancy, have three grown children.

Tom Croswell became president and CEO of Tufts Health Plan in January of 2016. As CEO of one of the region’s largest health plans that provides health insurance coverage across the life span regardless of age or circumstance, Tom defines the company’s strategic plan, ensuring Tufts Health Plan maintains its strong culture of quality, innovation and customer service. Tom joined Tufts Health Plan in 2007 as chief operating officer and added the duties of president to his title and role in 2013.

Tom previously served as senior vice president of medical management and specialty businesses at CIGNA HealthCare. While at CIGNA, he also served as president of its dental, pharmacy and workers' compensation businesses, and led development of its consumer-directed health care products.

Prior to his career at CIGNA, Tom served in senior leadership roles at Prudential Insurance Company, including president of its western region and senior vice president of its individual insurance organization. He is a past member of the board of directors of the National Committee on Quality Assurance. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation, the New England Council, Massachusetts Business Roundtable, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, RI Quality Institute and America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Mass/NH Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Tom completed the Wharton Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania and earned a B.A. from Syracuse University. He is a chartered life underwriter.

With a breadth of health care experience spanning several decades, Dr. Wendy Everett was chosen to oversee the formation of the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI) in 2002 as its first president and was named Chief Executive Officer in 2014. Dr. Everett now serves as NEHI's Special Advisor where she leads NEHI's initiatives for the Global Lab for Health and the Nick Littlefield Fellowship.

Along with NEHI’s founders, Dr. Everett’s vision was to create an independent, research-based organization that convened diverse members of the health care industry to achieve the common goal of addressing the most urgent health care issues. Under her leadership, this vision has resulted in ground-breaking research on medical innovation, patient safety, health care spending and health care information technology, and has influenced significant national policy changes.

Dr. Everett works with public and private policymakers to translate NEHI’s research findings into long-term solutions that improve health care quality and lower health care costs. Previously, Dr. Everett held executive positions at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She has directed national demonstration programs for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundations.

In addition, Dr. Everett is the Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, an independent state agency that monitors the reform of the health care delivery and payment systems in Massachusetts. She also serves on the boards of many philanthropic foundations and non-profit organizations.

Dr. Everett earned two bachelor of science degrees and she holds master’s and doctoral degrees in health policy and management from Harvard University.

Bob Filippone is Vice President, U.S. Policy and Government Relations at Merck. Bob and his team represent Merck in Washington, DC, and are responsible for U.S. policy development and legislative advocacy on Merck’s key federal issues. They also oversee the administration of the Merck PAC and the company’s grassroots program.

Bob joined Merck from PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, where he served as Senior Vice President, Federal Affairs. Bob led PhRMA’s Federal Affairs team with responsibility for advancing PhRMA’s interests with members of congress and the administration.

Prior to his time at PhRMA, Bob served as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the office of U.S. Senator Bob Graham (D-FL). He was Senator Graham’s principal advisor on foreign policy, homeland security, intelligence, defense and international trade issues.

During his tenure with Senator Graham, Bob also held the position of Deputy Staff Director for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The Committee is responsible for conducting oversight of the U.S. intelligence community and for authorizing intelligence activities of the U.S. Government.

Prior to joining Senator Graham’s staff, Bob worked as a national security specialist in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington. He has also worked as a fellow in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the Department of State, as a missile systems engineer at the Raytheon Company, and has taught international relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Bob holds Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is married to Desiree Geneva Filippone and they have two sons and a daughter.

Dr. Mark Girard is President of Steward Health Care Network and a national leader in disease management, population health, accountable care, clinical integration and alternative payment models.

An architect of Steward’s ACO and community care model, he previously served as President of Steward Hospitals. Prior to being named President of Steward Health Care Network, Dr. Girard served as Vice President of Specialty Care and Vice President of Network Imaging Services for Caritas Christi Health Care Network. He is an interventional radiologist and was formerly President and CEO of Commonwealth Radiology Associates, and the Medical-Staff President at North Shore Medical Center. Dr. Girard is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and Bowdoin College with a B.A. in physical chemistry. He also holds an M.B.A. from Salem State College Graduate School of Business.

In his role as Head of US Government Relations, Adam Gluck leads the Sanofi US government relations operations and establishes the federal and state legislative and executive branch priorities pursued by the US government relations units for all Sanofi operations in the US.

Adam joined Sanofi from Biogen, where he was most recently the Vice President of US Government Affairs & Patient Advocacy. In this role, Adam led the US federal, state, policy, and patient advocacy teams. During his nine years at Biogen, Adam served as the company’s lead federal lobbyist and was responsible for designing and building their European Public Policy & Government Affairs organization.

Prior to joining Biogen, Adam was a Senior Managing Director at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP (now Dentons LLP), where he led the Public Law and Policy Strategies public health practice team. At Sonnenschein, Adam represented a diverse range of patient advocacy organizations and corporations before the US Congress and Executive branch. His career also includes close to ten years on Capitol Hill working for four Congressional Members, including working as senior health policy advisor to Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and legislative director for Congressman Gene Green (D-TX). Adam was also the Senior House Legislative Liaison for the Children’s Defense Fund.

Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

David Meeker joined KSQ from Sanofi, where he was a member of the executive committee and Head of Sanofi-Genzyme. He previously served as President and CEO of Genzyme (a Sanofi company) following the merger of Genzyme and Sanofi. Post-merger at Sanofi-Genzyme, David assumed responsibility of the rare disease unit and the launch of the company’s new multiple sclerosis franchise, and he was given responsibility for the full specialty-care portfolio of Sanofi, adding the oncology and immunology portfolios. In that capacity, he oversaw the initial launch of products for atopic dermatitis and rheumatoid arthritis. David joined Genzyme in 1994 to work on the cystic fibrosis gene therapy program and ultimately served in a variety of R&D leadership roles before moving to operational roles with increasing responsibility beginning in the year 2000. He was named COO of Genzyme in 2009, with broad responsibility for the global commercial portfolio. Prior to joining Genzyme, David was a practicing physician at Cleveland Clinic, with a specialty in pulmonary and critical care. He did his internal medicine training at Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and his pulmonary/critical care training at Boston University. He currently serves as chairman of the board of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals and Trevi Therapeutics, and he is a member of the board of Myokardia. He also serves on the boards of the Biomedical Science Careers Program and the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation.

David received his MD from the University of Vermont Medical School. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Bruce is the Chief Physician Executive for Blue Cross Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the largest private health plan in Massachusetts and one of the largest independent, not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in the country. The company has more than $7 billion in revenue, serves nearly 3 million members, and is rated among the nation’s best health plans for overall member satisfaction and quality.

Bruce leads the Health and Medical Management Division, which is responsible for care and utilization management activities for medical and behavioral health. He is the senior clinical leader who guides health care strategies designed to improve the quality and affordability of health care.

He has over 25 years of health care management and clinical experience in medical group practice, hospital and managed care settings. He has held leadership positions at Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan and Kaiser Permanente and served as President of the former North Adams Regional Hospital in Massachusetts.

He currently serves on the boards of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation and the Greater Boston Food Bank. Bruce earned his undergraduate degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his medical degree at Albany Medical College. He is a board-certified family physician who completed his residency training at Duke University. He also received an MBA in health sector management from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

Dr. Samuel Nussbaum is executive vice president, clinical health policy and chief medical officer for WellPoint, Inc. He oversees corporate medical policy, clinical pharmacy programs, programs in clinical excellence, and health information technology. His principal responsibilities include: serving as chief spokesperson and policy advocate on medical issues, guiding the corporate vision regarding quality of care and its measurements, leading efforts to assess clinical quality performance and safety and developing a strategy to foster further collaboration with physicians and hospitals and national organizations (such as CDC and FDA) to strengthen and improve patient care. Dr. Nussbaum also has responsibility for HealthCore, WellPoint’s clinical outcomes research subsidiary.

Dr. Nussbaum has served as president of the Disease Management Association of America, Chairman of the National Committee for Quality Health Care, as Chair of America's Health Insurance Plan's (AHIP) Chief Medical Officer Leadership Council and as a member of the AHIP Board, and currently serves on the National Quality Forum (NQF) Board and on the Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society. He received the 2004 Physician Executive Award of Excellence from the American College of Physician Executives and Modern Physician magazine. Dr. Nussbaum is professor of clinical medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and serves as adjunct professor at the Olin School of Business, Washington University.

Dr. Nussbaum served as executive vice president, Medical Affairs and System Integration, of the BJC Health Care, where he led integrated clinical services across the health system and served as President of its medical group.

Dr. Nussbaum earned his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine at Stanford University Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital and in endocrinology and metabolism at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he directed the Endocrine Clinical Group. Dr. Nussbaum served as a professor at Harvard Medical School where his clinical and basic research has led to new therapies to treat skeletal disorders and new technologies to measure hormones in blood.

Mr. von Rickenbach took PAREXEL from its pioneering beginnings as one of the first clinical research organizations (CROs) in the early 1980s to its place as one of the top three public biopharmaceutical services providers. He led PAREXEL through its IPO, multiple public offerings, and over 40 mergers and acquisitions during the Company’s 35-year history, expanding its portfolio to meet changing client needs and market demand. Under his leadership, PAREXEL evolved to provide a broad range of services, including globally integrated clinical development, regulatory affairs consulting, commercialization services and technologies that expedite time-to-market.

Foreseeing the globalization of clinical research, Mr. von Rickenbach worked to expand PAREXEL’s global footprint to 86 locations in 51 countries. This extensive geographical presence and the Company’s 19,370 employees allow PAREXEL to conduct clinical trials across every continent in more than 100 countries.

Through PAREXEL, Mr. von Rickenbach made several innovative contributions to the advancement of the biopharmaceutical services industry, including conceiving of a streamlined, multi-disciplinary, systems-oriented approach to outsourced clinical development, bringing efficiencies, speed, scalability and standardization to the process. As part of the S-1 filing to the SEC, he was among the first to define the industry in formal terms. As the biopharmaceutical industry adopted information technology, Mr. von Rickenbach instituted a leading advanced technology offering; today PAREXEL Informatics is a frontrunner in providing eClinical solutions.

Mr. von Rickenbach was twice Chairman of the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) and was a founding member of the ACRO Board of Directors. He was named Executive of the Year in North America in the 2010 International Business Awards, which celebrate managerial excellence worldwide. Mr. von Rickenbach also won the Ernst & Young New England Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and has also served as a judge of the program. In 2013, Mr. von Rickenbach was honored by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) with their Henri Termeer Innovative Leadership Award. In 2014, he was named Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year in Life Sciences by the Immigrant Learning Center of Malden, Mass.

Mr. von Rickenbach is a noted contributor to the New England business community, where PAREXEL’s global headquarters is based near Boston. He serves on the Board of Directors of NEHI (Network for Excellence in Health Innovation) and on the Health Policy and Management Executive Council of the Harvard School of Public Health. Additionally, he is a Vice Chair of CEOs Against Cancer, sponsored by the American Cancer Society New England Chapter, and holds Board positions on other nonprofit organizations, including the San Francisco-based Life Sciences Foundation, dedicated to biotech history. He also has a long-standing association with the Biomedical Science Careers Program; he joined the Board in 1998 and was appointed Vice President in 2013. Additionally, he serves as a founding member of the Board of Advisors for Life Science Cares.

Mr. von Rickenbach’s extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical services industry places him at the forefront of drug development and management. After beginning his career with Schering-Plough, he held positions with ENSECO (formerly ERCO). Mr. von Rickenbach holds a B.A. in Business Economics from the School of Business at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland, and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Murray Ross is Vice President, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and leads the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy in Oakland, California. Kaiser Permanente is the largest private integrated health care delivery system in the U.S., serving over 10 million people in eight states and Washington, D.C. The Institute seeks to shape public policy and private practice by sharing evidence and experience from Kaiser Permanente’s operations through publications, expert roundtables, and conferences. Dr. Ross speaks frequently to domestic and international audiences on a wide range of health care topics and serves on a number of academic and non-profit boards. His current work focuses on how American health care can make better use of new medical technologies and how public policy can support better alignment of clinical and financial decision-making to improve health and the quality and affordability of health care. He also has a long-standing interest in improving communications in health care, both between patients and providers and also between knowledge producers and policy influencers.

Before joining Kaiser Permanente in 2002, Dr. Ross was a policy advisor to the U.S. Congress, first at the Congressional Budget Office and later as the executive director of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

An economist by training, Dr. Ross earned his doctorate at the University of Maryland, College Park, and completed his undergraduate work at Arizona State University. He enjoys distance running, writing, photography, and traveling (often together).

Dr. Eve Slater is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. Additionally, she serves on the Boards of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (nominated); Idera Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA; iTheRx, San Diego, CA; the Council of the Rockefeller University, New York City, NY; and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, New York City, NY.

Prior to her role at Columbia, Dr. Slater served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Policy at Pfizer, Inc. She has served as Assistant Secretary of Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to joining HHS, she spent over 19 years with Merck in a number of critical scientific, strategy and public policy positions. In 1983, she joined the Merck Research Laboratories in biochemical endocrinology and molecular biology, and in 1988, she was promoted to head the regulatory affairs department as VP and later SVP of Clinical and Regulatory Development. In 2001, she was named as SVP of External Policy for Merck Research Laboratories, and VP of Merck Corporate Public Affairs. An expert on HIV treatment research, she served as a member of both the U.S. Keystone National Policy Dialogue on HIV and the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council. An expert on the FDA, she was named to the Subcommittee of the FDA Science Board in 2007.

In 2001, Dr. Slater was appointed by President George W. Bush as Assistant Secretary of Health, the first woman to hold this position. In this role, she served HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson as chief health policy advisor, with special emphasis on e-health and innovation, biosecurity, clinical subjects’ protection, women’s health, eldercare and HIV/AIDS. After leaving HHS, she became a director and advisor to a number of biotechnology companies, including Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA and Phase Forward, Waltham, MA.

Dr. Slater received her bachelor's degree from Vassar College (Phi Beta Kappa) and her medical degree from Columbia University (Alpha Omega Alpha). She received her training in internal medicine and cardiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was the first woman named as Chief Resident in Medicine and later led the Hypertension Unit. She also served as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. A Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, she continues to serve patients as an Associate Attending Physician at NY Presbyterian Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia.

Dr. Rick Weisblatt is the Senior Vice President for Provider Network and Health Services for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, one of New England’s leading non-profit health plans. Founded in 1969, Harvard Pilgrim and its affiliates are licensed to provide comprehensive health insurance solutions in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. Its provider network has more than 22,000 physicians and 125 hospitals in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Harvard Pilgrim and its affiliates offer health and benefit plan solutions to over 1 million members in New England.

Dr. Weisblatt is responsible for all aspects of Harvard Pilgrim’s provider strategy. Under his leadership Harvard Pilgrim developed a nationally recognized program for hospital and physician pay-for-performance and recently implemented new risk arrangements intended to align the interests of physicians, health plans and patients. Dr. Weisblatt led the development of new network products including limited and tiered designs, health engagement incentive programs and member steerage programs.

Dr. Weisblatt has a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland and his clinical interests have been in treating children, adolescents and couples.