The Beat

About Sarah Hassaine:Sarah has a strong-proven track record of delivering and leading evolving D&I programs and initiatives for the last eight years. She currently is leading a team that delivers the strategic design and implementation of a D&I strategy across ResMed, reporting to the CPO and Office of the CEO. She consults, advises, and upskills leaders globally; designs and delivers training in-house on diversity and inclusion values and best practices enterprise-wide; evaluates policies, accessibility, and facilities, and proposes changes that drive inclusion; and effectively manages partnerships to drive advocacy, sourcing, branding, engagement, and professional development opportunities. She has taken ResMed from 4 to 12 global ERGs, increased their Self-ID percentage by 4%, and created a hub full of resources and training. She has additional projects that consist of evolving our journey of diverse sleep and mask trials, branding, accessibility in products and packaging, and inclusive language. She is driven by developing and managing long-lasting initiatives that contribute towards building a culture where employees feel included, appreciated, and develop professionally. Sarah developed her career as a strong project manager in international development, business operations, and web design. She has 20 years of management experience and eight years on the people side of the business. She has spoken at nearly 100+ empowering business, diversity, and tech conferences, and guest writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She currently serves on the Boards of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, the North San Diego Business Chamber, and the Kim Center for Social Balance. She is also a Mentor through Operations Connect for Veterans, DisabilityIN's Emerge Program, and UCSD's Triton Mentorship Program. She is part of the San Diego Diversity Council and recently graduated from the Wharton Business School.Things You’ll Learn:ResMed focuses on building an inclusive culture and business, with support from executives, and they emphasize the importance of time, resources, and intentionality in achieving equity.There is ROI in diversity, equity, and inclusion.Where one works determines how one must look at inclusion and diversity.It’s important to understand the meaning of D&I in one’s business context and approach strategies with a neutral perspective.Leveraging employees and involving everyone in the conversation is crucial for driving an inclusive culture and achieving equity.Resources:Connect with and follow Sarah Hassaine on LinkedIn.Follow ResMed on LinkedIn.Discover the ResMed Website.

About Kevin Larsen:Dr. Kevin Larsen is the Senior Vice President, of Clinical Innovation of Translation at Optum. Kevin’s role is to provide clinical leadership and a clinical voice to Optum Center for Advanced Clinical Solutions. He leads the clinical team in building and deploying provider enablement technologies, including clinical decision support integrated through electronic health records. Previously he was at OptumLabs where he supported the design and implementation of innovative research, analytics, and evidence-based translation programs in diverse areas across our portfolio and was a primary clinical lead in support of the Optum Enterprise strategy.Kevin is an internist and medical informaticist who started his career at Hennepin County Medical Center In Minneapolis where he had a variety of executive and clinical leadership roles. He has worked in academic, hospital, and government settings, focusing on innovation through data and analytics, research, policy, and developing/implementing innovative programs at scale.He joined Optum from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where most recently he has been Senior Health IT Advisor at the office of the Chief TechnologyOfficer. Kevin led the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) strategic planning and transformation team. In that role, he convened stakeholders across CMS and its partners to develop strategies and execute enterprise program improvements. He consulted on health IT policy, standards, and project execution for numerous Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) models, such as Million Hearts, Oncology Bundle, State Innovation Models, and Accountable Health Communities. He started his Washington D.C. career at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as the Medical Director of Meaningful Use where he led ONCs work on quality policy, measurement, and improvement, including clinical decision support and social determinants of health.Earlier, Kevin was CMIO and Associate Medical Director of Hennepin Health System. He was an associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota where his research included healthcare financing for people living in poverty, computer systems Things You’ll Learn:If patients have enough support, they will care for their health. Chronic disease patients should be able to manage their conditions throughout their lives. Technology can help minimize some clinical processes. Clinical Decision Support is a process that helps doctors make the best decisions after being well-informed. What many existing solutions lack are the means to scale. Healthcare should start reversing the inward-thinking mindset. Communities often have solutions on the ground that healthcare companies are trying to create. Many organizations are now asking their employees and their patients about social determinants of health. Resources:Connect with and follow Kevin on LinkedIn.Follow Optum on LinkedIn.Discover the Optum Website.Email Kevin directly at Kevin.Larsen@optum.com

About Susan Manber:Susan Manber is the Chief Patient Officer for Publicis Health. Sue Manber’s life and life’s work are inextricably linked. After beating cancer as a single mother, Sue returned to work with an intimate understanding of the patient experience and an acute awareness of her many privileges in her surviving a rare and aggressive cancer diagnosis. Now, as the communications industry’s first Chief Patient Officer, Sue advocates for more equitable patient experiences and is deeply committed to using her privilege to give a voice to those without one.  Things You’ll Learn:Informed patients drive better health outcomes. Humankind is now being overwhelmed with data, but very few insights. Patients have outside lives from their diagnosis. 95% of human decisions are made based on emotions. There are 3 C’s to equity-centered design: Clinical Trials, Commercial Marketing, and Community Health. Retail Pharmacy is becoming the front line of primary care. People want to be cared for by people who look and feel like them and understand their cultural sensitivities and nuances.20% of America do not have a primary care physician. 50% of millennials do not have a primary care physician.Early intervention is critical to saving lives.  Resources:Connect with and follow Susan on LinkedIn.Follow Teva Pharmaceuticals on LinkedIn.Visit the Publicis Health Website.Read Atul Gawande’s piece about Costa Rica’s life expectancy in The New Yorker.

Topics CoveredDr. Rao introduces us to Abridge and how it uses AI to generate clinical guidanceHow Abridge captures and utilizes important healthcare conversations in healthcareHow Abridge technology can help reduce clinician burnout and improve patient careThe potential for Abridge to be a one-stop solutionHow Abridge works to improve clinical workflows for healthcare professionalsHow AI helped to transform patient care during the pandemicThe role of AI in healthcare and the need for transparency, reliability, credibility, and human oversightConnect with Dr. Shiv RaoDr. Rao on LinkedInDr. Rao on TwitterConnect with Dr. Gautam Gulati & Dr. Jessica ShepherdDr. Gulati on LinkedInDr. Gulati on TwitterDr. Shepherd on LinkedInDr. Shepherd on TwitterResourcesAbridgeViVE

About Pierre Leurent:Pierre Leurent, President of Aptar Digital Health, is the CEO and co-founder of Voluntis, a leading digital therapeutic company acquired by Aptar Group in 2021. Pierre has over 20 years of experience in digital health in the United States and Europe. Prior to starting Voluntis, he worked at GE Healthcare, in its medical imaging software division, and at HealthCenter Internet Services, a vendor of EMR solutions based in Silicon Valley. He is a founding Director of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance, of which he served as Chairman and a member of Advamed’s Digital Health Executive Leadership Group. Pierre previously co-chaired the digital therapeutics task force of the Personal Connected Health Alliance, a member of HIMSS, and chaired the eHealth France Alliance. He holds an MS from Ecole Centrale Paris. About Sai Shankar:Sai has more than 20 years of experience across the pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and digital health business verticals. He has been an intrapreneur at Aptar, building the Digital Health division. Prior to joining Aptar in 2017, Sai worked for 15 years at Allergan and Sanofi.As the President of Aptar Digital Health, Sai is responsible for the overall P&L of the business. In addition to the organic growth of the connected devices business, he has overseen the acquisition of digital health companies (Voluntis and Cohero Health) as well as equity investments in various startups like Propeller Health, Sonmol (China), and Navia (India). Things You’ll Learn:Voluntis was acquired by Aptar last year, a big investment on their part in the digital space.Aptar is a publicly traded company that makes technology to optimize the effectiveness and adherence of drugs across many therapeutic areas.Aptar Digital Health falls under the pharma segment of the Aptar organization.Digital technology can guide patients to help them self-manage and be more connected with their healthcare team remotely.Making data available to care teams remotely brings clinical benefits and generates savings for the healthcare system.Aptar Digital Health has one of the largest portfolios of collaborations in digital therapeutics in the global pharma market.Enhancing patient experiences lead to better engagement and in turn, outcomes. Resources:Connect with and follow Pierre Leurent on LinkedIn.Connect with and follow Sai Shankar on LinkedIn.Follow Aptar Digital Health on LinkedIn.Discover the Aptar Digital Health Website.

About Andrew Toy:Andrew Toy is the President of Clover Health, where he is responsible for driving the vision for how technology and analytics can improve the lives of Clover's members. Andrew joined Clover from Google, where he coordinated enterprise activities for the Android team and ran Machine Learning, Enterprise Search, and Analytics for the G-Suite team. Before that, he was the CEO and co-founder of Divide, a company focused on creating a split between work and personal data on mobile devices, which was acquired by Google in 2014. He earned his BS and MS in Computer Science from Stanford University. About Carladenise Armbrister Edwards:Dr. Carladenise Armbrister Edwards has served as the Chief Strategy Officer at Henry Ford Health, a $6B private non-profit system in Southeast Michigan; Providence, a $26B Catholic healthcare system with over 50 hospitals across seven Western states; and Alameda Health System, a public hospital authority located in Oakland, California. As the principal advisor to the CEO and executive team, she has led system-wide strategic planning, M&A, and other partnership ventures, business development, clinical and operational transformation initiatives, government affairs, marketing, and communications, population health, and managed care contracting. Dr. Edwards also served as Founding President and CEO of Cal eConnect, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that governed California's electronic Health Information Exchange.Additionally, she has held executive leadership roles in Georgia's Department of Community Health, Florida’s Agency for Healthcare Administration, and the US Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Edwards joined Clover Health’s Board of Directors in July 2022. Dr. Edwards holds a Ph.D. in Medical Sociology from the University of Florida, a master's degree in Education and Psychological Services, and a bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. Things You’ll Learn:Medicare Advantage is the perfect example of how to provide health equity, as it gives money and resources to prevent illness and treat illness in a personalized manner.Decentralizing care can make clinicians more efficient and help them perform at the top of their license with the help of technology and analytics.The current hospital experience could be more efficient and scary, but it can be fixed using different tools and models of care.Organizations like Clover must ensure everybody gets access to the care they need, taking into account their social, economic, and environmental factors.Structural barriers, such as the structure of insurance and societal values, often create a disincentive to providing care to those who need it most.Everyone can be part of health equity by taking care of themselves first.Hospitals should be places where we go for certain aspects of our healthcare, not all of them.  Resources:Connect with and follow Andrew Toy on LinkedIn.Connect with and follow Carladenise Armbrister Edwards on LinkedIn.Follow Clover Health on LinkedIn.Visit the Clover Health Website.

Topics CoveredThe challenges of implementing digital technology in underserved populationsThe importance of community-based care and representation in healthcare organizationsThe impact of policy and advocacy on healthcare outcomesInnovative solutions and products developed by Centene for underserved populationsHow Centene checks for and addresses bias in its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithmsThe social determinants of healthThe potential of digital health to transform healthcare delivery for underserved populationsWhy having representation from the communities served is crucial for building better programs and plans.How focusing on community health can lead to better health outcomes for individualsConnect with Anika GardenhireAnika GardenhireConnect with Dr. Jessica Shepherd & Dr. Gautam GulatiDr. Shepherd on LinkedInDr. Shepherd on TwitterDr. Gulati on TwitterDr. Gulati on LinkedInResourcesCentene CorporationViVE

About Silvia Taylor:Silvia Taylor is the executive vice president, and chief communications officer for Novavax. Ms. Taylor has responsibility for investor relations; public relations; external and internal communications; corporate social responsibility and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) strategy; digital and social media; and meetings, events, and corporate merchandising for the company. She brings more than 25 years of communications and commercial leadership to Novavax. Most recently, she was vice president of global corporate affairs and communications at Autolus Therapeutics plc, where she led all financial, scientific, and corporate communications. Prior to Autolus, Ms. Taylor was senior vice president of global investor relations and corporate affairs at Sucampo. Earlier in her career, she held positions of increasing responsibility at MedImmune LLC, the global biologics arm of AstraZeneca, including head of marketing, responsible for the commercialization of the company’s respiratory syncytial virus and influenza franchises, as well as at Pfizer, where she served in key brand and consumer marketing roles. Ms. Taylor earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. In 2022, she was elected to the Page Society, a membership organization of chief communications officers of global Fortune-ranked corporations. Things You’ll Learn:People aren’t scientists, but they consume science all day long. Novavax is a biotechnology company that makes vaccines and has a platform for adjuvanted protein-based vaccines.Novavax is available in many countries worldwide and authorized in over 43.During 2020 and 2021, there was a lot of fear and misinformation about vaccines regarding their safety and development process.The COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet, and people shouldn’t act as if it was.Governments are Novavax’s primary customers.During the pandemic, people accessed vaccines in large numbers at pharmacies, which will probably not change. Resources:Connect with and follow Silvia Taylor on LinkedIn.Follow Novavax on LinkedIn.Visit the Novavax Website!Find out more about the COVID-19 vaccines at vaccines.gov.

About Tony VellecaAs chief executive officer of CyberProof, Tony directs the vision behind disruptive cybersecurity solutions. Since 2016, he has driven rapid growth for the company and its intellectual properties, leveraging a co-innovation model with clients and elite Israel-based talent to develop a world-class platform at the forefront of cyber security. Tony’s career has been one of reinvention and endless possibilities. His bold approach and desire to create new things began when he was an aerospace engineer, designing next-generation propulsion systems and aircraft for Boeing. His visionary leadership led him to build companies, products and tools that solve complex problems with innovation and ingenuity -- like CyberProof. Through CyberProof, Tony tackles enterprise security problems head-on. Under his leadership, the company has grown into one of the leading cybersecurity companies in the market, as recognized as a 2020 Wave Leader by Forrester. Tony received his MBA from the University of California, Irvine (cum laude) and his BA from the Georgia Institute of Technology in aerospace engineering.About Steven Ramirez:Steven is the chief information security officer for Renown Health. He is a seasoned IT leader with extensive experience in IT risk/security management, cybersecurity, privacy management, data confidentiality, IT regulatory compliance (HIPAA privacy/security, PCI security), data protection, IT advisory, enterprise risk management, crisis management, business resilience and disaster recovery. He has supported and led efforts across the healthcare, academic, financial and government sectors.SourceThings you’ll learnThe adoption of cybersecurity in healthcare has lagged behind other industries due to aged infrastructure and a need for increased emphasis on security by vendors. However, it is a necessary aspect of the digital future.The cost of cyber breaches in healthcare is high, including fines, lost revenue and lawsuits, making cyber insurance more challenging to obtain.The healthcare industry is playing catch-up regarding cybersecurity maturity, but the recent rise of ransomware attacks has forced organizations to invest in this area.The average cost of a cyber breach is $7 million.PHI and PII phishing are among the biggest and most effective threats.Cybersecurity is a space where people collaborate and share IP.Resources:Connect with Tony Velleca on LinkedIn.Follow CyberProof on LinkedIn.Visit the CyberProof website!Connect with Steven Ramirez on LinkedIn.Follow Renown Health on LinkedIn.Discover the Renown Health website!

About Shannon Klinger:As Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Shannon Thyme Klinger leads Moderna’s legal, governance, and corporate compliance efforts.Ms. Klinger joined Moderna from Novartis (NYSE: NVS), serving as Chief Legal Officer and a member of the Novartis Executive Committee since 2018. Previously, she served as Chief Ethics, Risk & Compliance Officer. During her ten-year tenure at Novartis, she held other roles of increasing responsibility, including as Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer and Global Head of Litigation, General Counsel, and Global Head of Legal at Sandoz, a Novartis division.Throughout her career, Ms. Klinger’s work has focused on driving long-term business performance and building trust with society, including ensuring access to medicine, protecting innovation with intellectual property, championing the responsible use of data, and enabling excellence in product launches. She is also a committed advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Ms. Klinger served on the board of directors of the SIX Group in Switzerland from 2016 to 2020.Ms. Klinger received her Juris Doctorate with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the District of Columbia Bar. Things You’ll Learn:Moderna has focused on infectious diseases and commits to creating transformative therapies for patients with the power of mRNA.The World Health Organization releases a flu strain selection in March or April every year. The Moderna Charitable Foundation was initially endowed with $50 million. The Foundation recently announced $4 million worth of grants in sub-Saharan Africa to organizations focused on clinical training and workforce development on educating about vaccines.In 2023, Moderna partnered with the African Union to commit 100 million doses of their most updated variant vaccine for low-middle-income countries. Moderna has a program called mRNA Access, where they partner with researchers and universities worldwide to give them access to their platform, research, and scientific advice, thus tackling public health challenges together. Resources:Connect with and follow Shannon Klinger on LinkedIn.Follow Moderna on LinkedIn.Discover the Moderna Website.Check out the mRNA Access Website.Visit Moderna’s Charitable Foundation Website.