Overview
The 4th Annual IVI Methods Summit will identify actionable changes and outline immediate actions, roles, and accountability metrics needed for substantive change to achieve health equity and true value in health technology assessment.
- Dates: March 13-14, 2023
- Day 1: Public Event (In-Person with Livestream)
- Day 2: Public Event (Virtual) and Invitation Only (Virtual)
- Location: Venable LLP, 600 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
This two-day hybrid event will bring together two of IVI’s top change-focused projects—the Health Equity Initiative and the Economic Impacts Initiative. This year’s Summit will yield both a proceedings summary of the conference, as well as reports and recommendations from each respective project that emphasize immediate actions to improve health technology assessment and define areas of further research.
Video Recordings
Agenda
March 13, 2023
Day 1: Changing Accountability and Practice of HTA for Health Equity
Brief introduction and discussion of the objectives for the Methods Summit.
Speakers
- Jason Spangler, Innovation and Value Initiative
- Jennifer Bright, Innovation and Value Initiative
- Ilisa Halpern Paul, Venable LLP
This fireside chat will emphasize the essential role for patient insight and collaboration and highlight system-wide learning and challenges that remain for all actors.
Speaker:
- Dora Hughes, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
This keynote presentation will frame patient and family perspectives on why and how HTA needs to change – in mindset, methods, and practice – to achieve and uphold health equity.
Speaker:
- Donna Cryer, Global Liver Institute
This panel discussion brings steering committee, key informant and roundtable participants in the IVI Health Equity Initiative to review key findings and call to action. Panelists will highlight priority actions for accountability and meaningful change in all dimensions of the Equity Framework. The panel discussion will include a Q&A session.
Speakers:
- Moderator: Ilisa Halpern Paul, Venable LLP
- Jennifer Bright, Innovation and Value Initiative
- Kistein Monkhouse, Patient Orator
- Karam Diaby, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies
- Jackie McRae, PhRMA
This panel will consider priority actions for change in research methods, data generation, and reporting/communication of HTA to promote and sustain a focus on equity in HTA.
Speakers:
- Moderator: Eberechukwu (Ebere) Onukwugha, University of Maryland
- Nicole Boschi, National Multiple Sclerosis Society
- Leticia Moczygemba, University of Texas College of Pharmacy
- Daniel Touchette, University of Illinois Chicago
- Stacey Kowal, Genentech
- ISPOR Equity Special Interest Group
This panel will focus on actions that key users of HTA can take to promote accountability and practice change in the conduct and communication of HTA to promote and sustain focus on equity.
Speakers:
- Nelly Ganesan, JPMorgan Chase & Co. – Morgan Health
- Greg Baker, EmsanaRx
- Yasmeen Long, FasterCures
This closing session will highlight remarks about the role of philanthropy and research funding in shaping change for health equity in HTA. The session will also culminate in reflections about the day’s dialogue and the vision for IVI’s future dissemination and implementation of recommendations from the Health Equity Initiative.
Speaker:
- Nakela Cook, PCORI
IVI will discuss next steps following the conclusion of the Methods Summit.
Speakers:
- Jennifer Bright, Innovation and Value Initiative
- Jason Spangler, Innovation and Value Initiative
March 14, 2023
Day 2: Creating our Framework for Measuring Economic Impacts on Patients and Families
IVI Chief Executive Officer, Jason Spangler, will begin Day 2 of the IVI Methods Summit with reflections on the previous day.
This keynote discussion will highlight the opportunities to improve our research approach and some of the common challenges that researchers, advocates, and decision-makers are seeking to address.
Speaker:
- Moderator: Jennifer Bright, Innovation and Value Initiative
- Gwen Darien, National Patient Advocate Foundation
- Gretchen Wartman, National Minority Quality Forum
IVI and AcademyHealth are collaborating to develop a guide for researchers and decision-makers to capture the full range of economic impacts on people living with serious health conditions. Panelists during this session will reflect on the process of developing the framework.
Speakers:
- Moderator: Erica de fur Malik, Innovation and Value Initiative
- Annie Kennedy, EveryLife Foundation for Rare Disease
- Mary Reed, DrPH, Kaiser Permanente
- Juan Marcos González Sepúlveda, PhD, Duke University, School of Public Health
For more information on this invitation-only segment of the IVI Methods Summit, please contact Erica Malik at erica.malik@thevalueinitiative.org.
Sponsors
The 2023 IVI 4th Annual Methods Summit is supported by contributions from PhRMA, Janssen Scientific Affairs, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and is partially funded through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EASCS-24274). IVI general funds, which represent dues from diverse membership, also support this work.
Resources
Economic Impacts Project: The objective of this project is to develop a framework for capturing economic impacts on patients and caregivers.
Health Equity Initiative: The objective of this initiative is to define gaps in health technology assessment practice as it relates to equity considerations and to develop best practices and new methods for informing value that supports health equity.
Speakers
Greg Baker
EmsanaRx
Greg Baker, RPh
As CEO, Greg Baker strategically develops EmsanaRx’s mission for drive better health, predictable costs and a partnership that puts employers in control. Greg has decades of experience in pharmacy as a pharmacist, businessman, and entrepreneur. He leads EmsanaRx in three core areas: 1. Cost Transparency, 2. Data Control and 3. Patient Health Improvement. He is passionate about creating a clinically-focused versus a financially-focused PBM.
At EmsanaRx, Greg leverages his prior experience working as the pharmacy lead for Premise Health, during which time he maintained the highest levels of operational efficiency, clinical excellence and customer service to provide value within the greater pharmacy healthcare ecosystem. Drawing from this experience, as well as time spent as Pharmacy Supervisor for Walgreens and Senior Pharmacy Consultant for Blue & Co., Greg listens to scores of employers across all industries to customize the highest quality clinical care solutions with the lowest costs for EmsanaRx customers. While in a previous role, Greg led a pharmacy organization that won the 2018 PBMI award for innovation and the 2019 APhA Pinnacle Award. He was also the first community pharmacist appointed by the HHS Secretary to the National Advisory Council for the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, where he further advanced the role of pharmacy to improve public health outcomes.
Greg Baker lives by the motto, “By employers, For employers,” in order to make EmsanaRx a nimble company in a large industry determined to do what is right for employers and the millions who work for them.
Nicole Boschi
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Nicole M. Boschi, PhD
Nicole M. Boschi, PhD is the Director of Regulatory Affairs at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. In this role, she works to build relationships with federal agencies to achieve a world free of MS. Dr. Boschi received her BS (cum laude) in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester and her MS and PhD in pharmacology from the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Jennifer Bright
Innovation and Value Initiative
Jennifer Bright, MPA
Jennifer Bright, Chief Engagement and Strategy Officer for the Innovation and Value Initiative, brings over two decades of health care policy, issue management, patient advocacy, and executive leadership to the role. Bright is also founder and President of Momentum Health Strategies. She formerly served as executive director of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, representing physician, advanced practice nurse, and researcher members. Bright’s prior executive leadership at the National Mental Health Association (now Mental Health America) focused on advancing policy initiatives at the state and local level. She now serves on the Board of Directors for Mental Health America. She has also doe issue analysis and issues management at state-oriented lobbying firms.
Bright earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Trinity College in Washington, and her master’s degree in public administration, with a concentration in policy analysis and program management, from George Washington University.
Nakela Cook
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
Nakela L. Cook, MD, MPH
Nakela L. Cook is the Executive Director at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). She is a cardiologist and health services researcher with a distinguished career leading key scientific initiatives engaging patients, clinicians, and other healthcare stakeholders at some of the nation’s largest health research funders.
Cook leads PCORI’s research, engagement, dissemination and implementation, and research infrastructure development work. She also provides oversight to a growing number of ongoing programs and new initiatives designed to create a more efficient, effective, equitable, and patient-centered system of health. Under her leadership and with extensive engagement of stakeholders, PCORI established a bold vision in its Strategic Plan that builds on its past work to address the challenges, including social determinants of health, facing patients and communities in our nation’s complex, fast-changing health system.
Prior to her current role, Cook served as Senior Scientific Officer and Chief of Staff at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the third largest institute of the National Institutes of Health. She spearheaded the development and implementation of NHLBI’s strategic plan and initiatives in cardiovascular outcomes, precision medicine, data science, sickle cell disease, and women’s health.
Cook earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and a Master of Public Health in health care policy and management from Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and is an alumna of the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy.
Throughout her career, Cook has worked to enhance diversity and equity in research and care delivery and been a leader in efforts to reduce disparities in health access and outcomes. She has received numerous awards for her excellence in clinical teaching and mentorship as well as her leadership of complex scientific initiatives and programs.
Donna Cryer
Global Liver Institute
Donna R. Cryer, JD
Donna R. Cryer, JD, is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Global Liver Institute (GLI), the premier patient-driven liver health nonprofit operating with offices and partnerships across five continents. Moved by her own experience as a 28-year-old liver transplant recipient, Mrs. Cryer serves as a fierce advocate for the transformative potential of patient engagement in health policy, research, data, and system design.
Through GLI, Mrs. Cryer has raised more than $10 million for liver health initiatives and convenes more than 200 organizations within the liver cancers, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), pediatric and rare liver diseases, and general liver health communities across GLI’s Councils and its Liver Action Network, facilitating collaborative multi-stakeholder agenda setting and bringing accountability to innovation, regulation, and adoption of best practices to optimize outcomes.
Her expertise and effectiveness in advancing the voice of patients in defining and designing equitable healthcare has been recognized by the United States Congress and the White House. In 2021, Mrs. Cryer received both the Global Genes Rare Champions of Hope Founder’s Award and the American Association for the Study of the Liver (AASLD) Distinguished Advocacy Service Award. She has been named one of the Top Blacks in Healthcare by the Milken Institute at the George Washington University School of Public Health and BlackDoctors.org, one of the Top 10 Patients Who Make An Impact by Health 2.0, and one of PharmaVoice’s 100 Most Inspiring People.
Mrs. Cryer serves on the Boards of Directors for the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS), Sibley Memorial Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine, and the Color of Crohns and Chronic Illness (COCCI). She also serves as the Executive Committee for the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative and the Board of Advisors for ChronWell, Inc., a digital health and therapeutics company. She was the first patient to serve on the American Board of Internal Medicine Gastroenterology Specialty Board, was one of the founding members of the AASLD Patient Advisory Committee, and is the Community Representative on the AASLD NASH Task Force.
Mrs. Cryer makes frequent appearances on broadcast media and podcasts; on platforms such as The Washington Post Live, SXSW, and The Atlantic; and speaks at top healthcare and business conferences including Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF), National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN), and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).
Mrs. Cryer received an undergraduate degree from Harvard and a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Gwen Darien
National Patient Advocate Foundation
Gwen Darien
Gwen Darien is a longtime patient advocate who has played leadership roles in some of the country’s preeminent nonprofit organizations. As executive vice president for patient advocacy and engagement, Gwen leads programs that link PAF’s patient service programs to NPAF initiatives, with the goal of improving access to affordable, equitable quality health care.
Called “a bit of a renegade” by People magazine, Gwen has long insisted on pushing boundaries while maintaining a safe space for patients. As editor and publisher of Mamm, a magazine for women with breast or reproductive cancer, Gwen published features on previously taboo subjects, such as dating after a mastectomy, along with the more expected academic features on news and policy analysis. Her media leadership was recognized by the Avon Foundation, which honored her as one of “the most powerful women in breast cancer.”
As a three-time cancer survivor herself, Gwen came into cancer advocacy expressly to change the experiences and outcomes for the patients who came after her and to change the public dialogue about cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. With these goals in mind, in 2005 she started the first standalone advocacy entity in a professional cancer research organization at the American Association for Cancer Research, causing outside observers to note the organization’s “progressive commitment to patient advocacy.” At AACR, she launched CR magazine – a magazine for people with cancer and those who care for them. Later, she served as the executive director of the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation; director of The Pathways Project; and executive vice president of programs and services at the Cancer Support Community. In each role, Gwen championed placing patients at the center of health system change, whether it is for research, public policy or direct services.
While serving as the the chair or on the board of a wide range of program committees and workshop faculties, including the Community Engagement in Genomics Working Group of the National Human Genome Research Institute; a member of the US Pharmacopeia Board of Trustees, and as the chair of PCORI’s Patient Engagement Advisory Panel, Gwen also writes about her experiences. A recent piece, Transformation: My Experience as a Patient and an Advocate in Three Chapters appeared in the National Academy of Medicine Perspectives.
Gwen is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, where she also served as an advisor for their Health Advocacy program. She grew up in Milwaukee, but now lives in New York City, where she cooks Persian dishes, collects earrings and improves her friends’ personal libraries, one book at a time.
Karam Diaby
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies
Karam Diaby, PD, MSc, CRA
Karam Diaby currently serves as the Director, Health Economics and Value Evidence Partnership at Otsuka. Prior to joining Otsuka, Karam Diaby, CRA, MSc, Ph.D., was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy (POP) in the University of Florida (UF) College of Pharmacy. He also served as the Track Director for the pharmaceutical outcomes and policy online M.S. degree where he oversaw the development and growth of the Applied Pharmacoeconomics track.
Karam graduated with a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Population Health) at University of Montreal (Quebec, Canada) and completed a coveted post-doctoral fellowship in health economics and decision sciences at the Programs for Assessment of Technology in Health – McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada).
Over the past 10 years, Karam has developed and honed skills in decision analytic modeling for comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of new health technologies to support value assessments. He is also skilled in the use of operations research for health care decision-making using multi-criteria decision analysis. He has some interests in the development of value assessment frameworks and the incorporation of health equity in such frameworks.
On a personal note, Karam and his best half have been married for 12 years and are blessed with two adorable boys, Moustapha (8 years old) and Imad (6 years). Karam enjoys cooking (West African, Mediterranean, European, American, Asian cuisines), watching movies, traveling, and martial arts.
Nelly Ganesan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. – Morgan Health
Nelly Ganesan, MPH
As Executive Director of Community Engagement and Health Equity at JPMorgan Chase & Co. – Morgan Health, Nelly Ganesan, MPH advises clients on the implications of quality-related healthcare policies, including but not limited to public and private quality reporting programs, value-based care, and payment and delivery models. Nelly has special expertise in care models focused on CMS’ Triple Aim—better care, better health, and lower costs—and the use of patient-reported outcomes. Nelly has been with the firm since 2011. Prior to joining Avalere, Nelly spent 6 years at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, focused on population health and hospital-based quality improvement. Nelly has an MPH in epidemiology and international health from Boston University and a BS in economics from the University of Oregon.
Juan Marcos Gonzalez
Duke University
Juan Marcos Gonzalez, PhD
Dr. Gonzalez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Duke University. He is an expert in the design of stated-preference survey instruments and the use of advanced statistical tools to analyze stated-preference data. His research has focused on the transparency in benefit-risk evaluations of medical interventions, and the elicitation of health preferences from multiple stakeholders to support shared decision-making.
Dr. Gonzalez co-led the first FDA-sponsored preference study which was highlighted in FDA’s recent precedent-setting guidance for submitting patient-preference evidence to inform regulatory benefit-risk evaluations of new medical devices. More recently, Dr. Gonzalez collaborated with the Medical Devices Innovation Consortium (MDIC) to prepare the first catalog of preference-elicitation methods (part of the Patient-Centered Benefit-Risk Assessment Framework) suitable for benefit-risk assessments of medical devices. As a core group member of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Conjoint Analysis Task Force, Dr. Gonzalez helped draft good-practice recommendations for statistical analysis, interpretation, and reporting of health preference data.
Dora Hughes
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Dora Hughes, MD, MPH
Dora Hughes, MD, MPH, is the Chief Medical Officer at the CMS Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. She leads the Center’s work on health equity, provides clinical leadership and input on models, serves as the Innovation Center’s primary liaison with medical and clinical stakeholders, and provides leadership to CMMI’s clinician community. In addition, Dr. Hughes is part of the Innovation Center’s Senior Leadership Team, helping to provide enterprise-level leadership and strategic direction to the Center.
Previously, Dr. Hughes served as an Associate Research Professor of Health Policy & Management at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, where he work focused on the intersection of clinical and community health, health equity, social determinants of health, healthcare quality and workforce. Prior to this role, Dr. Hughes was a Senior Policy Advisor to Sidley Austin, where she advised on regulatory and legislative matters in the life science industry. Additionally, Dr. Hughes served the Counselor for Science & Public Health to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. In this role, she helped implement the Affordable Care Act and provided oversight and guidance to the Public Health Service Act authorized agencies and Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Hughes began her career in health policy as Senior Program Officer at the Commonwealth Fund, and subsequently was Deputy Director for the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee under Senator Barrack Obama.
Dr. Hughes received a B.S. from Washington University, M.D. from Vanderbilt, and M.P.H. from Harvard. She completed internal medicine residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
Annie Kennedy
EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases
Annie Kennedy
Focused on improving health outcomes for people living with rare diseases by advancing the development of treatment and diagnostic opportunities for rare disease patients through science-driven public policy, Annie’s work includes building strong partnerships with policy makers, federal agencies, Industry, and alliances.
Annie has served within the community for nearly three decades through her roles with Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). In that time she helped lead legislative efforts around passage and implementation of the MD-CARE Act (2001, 2008, 2014), the Patient Focused Impact Assessment Act (PFIA) which became the Patient Experience Data provision within the 21st Century Cures Act (sec 3001), engagement with the FDA and Industry around regulatory policy and therapeutic pipelines, led access efforts as the first therapies were approved in Duchenne, and engaged with ICER around the development of the modified framework for the valuation of ultra-rare diseases.
Annie’s community roles include service on the Board of Directors of Cure SMA, the PFDD Works coalition, the Patient Driven Values in Healthcare Evaluation (PAVE) Steering Committee, FasterCures Cures for Life Initiative, the National Health Council’s PCORI Valuation Group, the Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI) Patient Advisory Committee, the National Duchenne Newborn Screening Pilot Program Steering Committee, the Institute for Gene Therapies (IGT) Patient Advocacy Advisory Council, the State Rare Disease Education Initiative (STRiDE) National Steering Committee, and as a member of the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Advisory Council and the Cures Accelerator Network (CAN) Advisory Board.
Stacey Kowal
Genentech
Stacey Kowal, MSc
Stacey Kowal currently serves as a principal researcher in Genentech’s Health Policy and Systems Research team where her work focuses on identifying and testing new methods to assess the impact of new healthcare technologies. Her background includes both US and global work to inform health technology assessment (HTA) and reimbursement as well as design of public health interventions, drawing on disciplines of applied mathematics, economics, and international health policy. She brings more than 15 years of experience in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), with an emphasis on using economic modeling, real world data and patient-reported outcomes to improve decision-making for governments, pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, health payers, HTA bodies and patients. Stacey’s current research aims to increase focus on equity effects in HEOR, including integration of distributional elements into healthcare decision-making. Stacey is a Udall scholar, a Truman scholar and a Marshall scholar. She holds a BS in Mathematics from Alma College, an MSc in public health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and an MSc in International Health Policy and Economics from the London School of Economics.
Yasmeen Long
FasterCures
Yashmeen Long, MS
Yasmeen Long is a director at FasterCures, a center of the Milken Institute, where she leads the Health Equity and Diversity in Clinical Trials portfolio. Her expertise lies within health equity and disparities, health outcomes, policy, clinical research, patient engagement, and social determinants of health. Prior to joining FasterCures, she co-directed the Health Policy Fellowships and Leadership Programs at the National Academy of Medicine. These fellowships were designed for early- to mid-career national and international health science scholars. She also served as a program officer at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), where she executed strategic objectives to advance patient and stakeholder engagement in patient-centered outcomes research. At PCORI, she built key relationships with academic researchers, health-care providers, patient advocates, and policy stakeholders. Prior to PCORI, she directed global health policy programs in the U.S., Asia, and the Middle East at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in collaboration with the Bloomberg Philanthropies and the World Health Organization. Earlier in her career, she managed research programs at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the following areas: biomedical research, chronic and infectious diseases, and health disparities in patient care. Yasmeen earned a master’s degree in sociology and women’s health from Suffolk University and a bachelor’s degree in health sciences from Howard University.
Jacquelyn McRae
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
Jacquelyn McRae, PharmD, MS
Jacquelyn McRae, PharmD, MS is Director of Policy and Research at Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) focused on advancing policy and research in health equity and the value of medicines. Dr. McRae graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy from Mercer University and a Master of Science in Applied Health Economics with Outcomes Research from Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. McRae previously completed a two-year Post-Doctoral fellowship in health economics and outcomes research and population health. In addition to her responsibilities at PhRMA, Dr. McRae studies pharmaceutical health services research and intersectionality as a PhD Candidate at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Leticia Moczygemba
University of Texas, College of Pharmacy
Leticia R. Moczygemba, PharmD, PhD
Dr. Moczygemba is an Associate Professor in the Health Outcomes Division and Associate Director of the Texas Center for Health Outcomes Research and Education at the University of Texas College of Pharmacy. Her research program focuses on working with communities and health-systems to mitigate health disparities by developing patient-centered interventions to optimize medication use and health outcomes. Guided by the principles of community-engaged research, she routinely uses qualitative and quantitative techniques, program evaluation, and the science of quality improvement to advance the health of people experiencing homelessness, low-income adults, rural individuals, and older adults. She is currently the Principal Investigator of a 5-year, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality funded grant that aims to refine and test a community-based mHealth intervention, comprised of GPS and text messaging components, with a goal of decreasing emergency department use and hospitalizations among people experiencing homelessness. She is also the Co-PI of a statewide project in Texas, funded by the Texas Department of State health Services/CDC, that focuses on enhancing medication therapy management in community pharmacies by improving community pharmacy workflow and increasing provider engagement. Dr. Moczygemba was a Virginia Commonwealth University Blick Scholar and NIH KL2 Scholar. She was also a 2017 NIH mHealth Scholar. She was selected as an American Pharmacist Association Fellow in 2020.
Eberechukwu Onukwugha
University of Maryland
Eberechukwu Onukwugha, PhD, MS
Eberechukwu Onukwugha, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and is the Executive Director of Pharmaceutical Research Computing at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. She received a Bachelor of Arts in economics and French from the University at Albany, State University of New York, a Master of Science in agricultural and applied economics as well as a Doctor of Philosophy in economics (concentration: econometrics) from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Dr. Onukwugha completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacoeconomics and health outcomes research at the University of Maryland’s School of Pharmacy. She was a recipient of the PhRMA Foundation’s Post-Doctoral Fellowship in health economics and outcomes research.
Dr. Onukwugha’s research interests are in cost analysis, health disparities, and medical decision-making by individuals and institutions. She examines the costs and health outcomes associated with health-related decisions as well as the institutional and environmental context framing individuals’ health-related decisions. She studies treatment receipt, self-care following a hospital discharge, and healthcare resource utilization in the oncology and cardiovascular disease settings.
Dr. Onukwugha’s research has been published in journals such as Cancer, Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations, Ethnicity & Disease, Journal of General Internal Medicine, JCO: Clinical Cancer Informatics, PharmacoEconomics, Journal of Geriatric Oncology, Neurology, Value in Health, Medical Care, Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, Journal of Oncology Practice, and Medical Decision Making. Dr. Onukwugha is an Editorial Board member for PharmacoEconomics and an Associate Editor for Ethnicity & Disease. Her research on cost-effectiveness and regression modeling has received Contributed Research Awards at international conferences sponsored by ISPOR, the Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research.
Kistein Monkhouse
Patient Orator
Kistein Monkhouse, MPA
Kistein Monkhouse, MPA, is a patient advocate for health equity and women’s rights. She is the CEO and founder of Patient Orator, a digital health solution powering meaningful communication between individuals and their health teams to improve health outcomes. Kistein is an award-winning documentary producer for her films Humanizing Health Care and The Cost of Abortion Bans. She is involved with patient advocacy at the local and national levels championing efforts to combat healthcare disparities through shared decision-making between individuals and their care teams.
Ilisa Halpern Paul
Venable LLP
Ilisa Halpern Paul, MPP
Ilisa Halpern Paul is a senior policy advisor at Venable, LLC in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Ilisa co-leads the firm’s Federal Health Policy team, drawing on more than 30 years of recorded success in helping established and start-up healthcare companies, health and hospital systems, provider associations, and nonprofit patient advocacy organizations advance their legislative, regulatory, and business goals before Congress and the executive branch. Ilisa represents some of the country’s most significant integrated health systems, medical and nursing professional societies, and other entities involved in the direct delivery of healthcare. Ilisa provides direct lobbying representation and strategic counsel regarding legislative, regulatory, and grassroots advocacy; public policy development; coalition-building; and third-party stakeholder alliance engagement. She is a frequently sought-after keynote speaker, panelist, meeting facilitator, and moderator of in-person and on-line discussions and webinars. Ilisa earned a BA in English from UCLA and a master of public policy from Georgetown University. Prior to her more than 20 years of serving clients as an external advisor-consultant, Ilisa ran the federal government relations departments at the American Public Health Association and the American Cancer Society. A native of California, Ilisa began her public policy career working on Capitol Hill as a legislative staffer to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). She is the proud wife of Scott Paul and mom to twin 15-year-old boys. Ilisa and her family live in Bethesda, Maryland with their rescue dog, Coco.
Mary Reed
Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research
Mary Reed, DrPH
Mary E. Reed, DrPH, is a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research, and a founding steering committee member of the CREST emergency medicine research network. Her research interests include health information technology and health care delivery organization and their effects on clinical care, quality, and costs. She examines patient care-seeking and health care experience, particularly in using patient-facing technology and in navigating health insurance benefits. Her research has been funded by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disease (NIDDK), the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and she serves on the AHRQ Health Information Technology Research (HITR) study section. Her work has been recognized in Best Abstracts of the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting and as an AcademyHealth Notable Article-of-the-Year (2014). Dr. Reed is the incoming chair of the AcademyHealth Data and Methods Council.
She received her DrPH at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute of Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco.
Jason Spangler
Innovation and Value Initiative
Jason Spangler, MD, MPH, FACPM
For nearly two decades, Dr. Spangler, IVI’s Chief Executive Officer, has worked in the professional health policy and public health sector with pharmaceutical and non-profit organizations. Dr. Spangler joins IVI from his most recent role as Executive Medical Director and Director and Head of Global HTA Policy Strategy & Engagement for Amgen, Inc.
Dr. Spangler earned his MD at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in 1998 and his Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2002. His commitment to public health, preventive medicine, and health equity date back to his medical school residency, during which he served as a medical team leader for free clinics in Costa Rica, a resident coordinator for free clinics for homeless around UPMC, and a clinical educator in the International Medical Corps in Kosovo.
After serving one year as Chief Resident, Dr. Spangler joined Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals as a Public Health and Health Policy Consultant. He remained in this role for three years and then moved on to the Partnership for Prevention, where he started as a Managing Senior Fellow and was promoted to Chief Medical Officer until he was recruited to Amgen.
Daniel Touchette
University of Illinois Chicago
Daniel Touchette, PharmD
Daniel Touchette is Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Systems Outcomes and Policy at the University of Chicago Illinois. Dr. Touchette received his BS in Pharmacy from the University of Manitoba in Canada, and his PharmD and Master of Economics degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit, U.S.A. He also completed a fellowship in pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research at Wayne State. Dr. Touchette’s primary research interests are in pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research. In particular, he is interested in assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of clinical pharmacist and other health practitioner services, developing and assessing methods for improving adherence to medications, and evaluating the cost-effectiveness of pharmaceutical agents.
Ashley Valentine
Sick Cells
Ashley Valentine, MRes
Ashley is a Co-Founder and President of Sick Cells, and the youngest sibling of her family. Her older brother and Co-Founder of Sick Cells, Marqus Valentine, had sickle cell anemia, Hgb ss. Growing up, Ashley spent much of her childhood charming hospital playroom attendants while Marqus was frequently hospitalized for pain crises, fever, ad multiple complications from SCD. As an adult, Ashley completed her Master’ in Research Methods from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She focused on disparities in healthcare for people with SCD in London.
Ashley became the President of Sick Cells in 2017. She was able to transition into a full-time role in 2018. Since then, Ashley and her brother have achieved great milestones with the SCD community, including successfully leading the SCD community in its first-ever ICER review, building coalitions to advocate for federal legislation to be signed into law, testify at the FDA about the importance of drug development, and more.
Gretchen Wartman
National Minority Quality Forum
Gretchen Wartman
Gretchen Clark Wartman is Vice President for Policy and Program of the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF), and Director of the NMQF Institute for Equity in Health Policy and Practice. Ms. Wartman also directs the NMQF National Alliance for Brain Health and Awareness. Ms. Wartman has more than 40 years of experience in the public and private sectors in health policy strategy and analysis, issue advocacy, and program administration. Prior to her tenure with NMQF, Ms. Wartman held positions with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, including serving as the Title V/Maternal and Child Health Director, and Director of the Division of Nutritional Health and Services. Ms. Wartman is a Peer Reviewer for the Journal of Healthcare, Science and The Humanities.