Board Members
We break down the traditional silos across the life-science industry and share information to increase accountability and facilitate progress.
IFPMA serves as the secretariat of the AMR Industry Alliance with the responsibility of implementing the activities endorsed by the Board. The Board is the governing body of the AMR Industry Alliance. It is responsible for the planning and oversight of AMR Industry Alliance’s activities.
Cynthia Burzell
Cynthia Burzell holds a Ph.D. in Marine and Medical Microbiology, is co-Founder and CSO of Aequor, Inc., leading independent antibiofilm and antifouling research for the past fifteen years worldwide. The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) selected Cynthia to provide the definition of biofilm in its Antimicrobial Encyclopaedia.
She received TechAmerica’s 2009 Abacus Award for Researcher of the Year for discovering a new genus and several new species of marine microbes with antibiofilm/antifouling properties, and has been a featured speaker at international conferences on her discoveries and their importance to control bacteria, fungi, and fouling. Dr. Burzell has managed complex projects with DOE, UDSA, NASA and private companies, developing and overseeing work plans with contract research organizations (CROs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) for product development regulatory approvals and scale-up.
NASA awarded Aequor the iTech Award in the Life Support Category for Cynthia’s breakthrough technologies to control biofilm in Space, where it forms thicker and faster than on Earth. She worked 3 years with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to solve the problem biofilm contamination in the reuse/recycling water system used on board the International Space Station (ISS) and on surfaces in manned spacecraft. Aequor’s products were launched in November 2022 to the International Space Station for use on orbit.
Erika Satterwhite
Erika Satterwhite is Head of Global Policy at Viatris, a global healthcare company. In this role, Erika leads the public policy efforts of Viatris, spanning geographies and therapeutic areas, to advance the company’s mission of empowering people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life. Prior to joining Viatris in November 2020, Erika led Global Policy for Mylan, a leading global generic medicines company, and spent the previous decade in policy roles with Mylan in Washington D.C. and Brussels, Belgium. In addition to serving on the Board of the AMR Industry Alliance, Erika serves on the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and previously held a leadership role with the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (IGBA). Erika is a graduate of Georgetown University, and lives in New York.
Greg Frank
Greg Frank serves as Director of Global Public Policy for MSD.
James Anderson
James leads IFPMA’s work spanning global health, including the innovative pharmaceutical industry’s policy on pandemic preparedness, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and global access to medicines and vaccines as Board Chair. He has served in this role since November 2022.
In his previous role as Head of Corporate Government Affairs at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), James was responsible for GSK’s strategic engagement with the UK Government. He also held positions in Government Affairs and Commercial at European and global levels and led their strategy and engagement on AMR.
He was in the founding team of the AMR Action Fund and led the development of the 2016 Davos Declaration on AMR and the subsequent United Nations General Assembly Industry AMR Roadmap. He has advised on AMR policy development at the WHO, UN, EU Commission, and with national governments.
James has also served as the Vice-Chair of Health at Business at the OECD, and as a member of the UK Life Science Strategy Board.
He has an MBA in Business from Harvard Business School as well as a Masters in Natural Sciences – Molecular and Genetic Pathology from Cambridge University.
Jennifer Young
Jennifer Young is Vice President, Global Policy and Public Affairs for Specialty Care, Policy Planning, and Strategy at Pfizer. Jennifer leads diverse global teams including Pfizer’s Global Policy and Public Affairs (GPPA) Specialty Care team overseeing development and execution of public policy and government affairs strategies to shape the operating environment for multiple business units including Rare Disease, Hospital, and Inflammation and Immunology. She also leads the GPPA Policy Planning and Strategy team where she coordinates strategy and execution of public policy priorities and stakeholder engagement around the globe. She previously led the Policy and Public Affairs team for Emerging Asia at Pfizer.
Jennifer has 20 years of experience across corporate, government and trade association policy making. Prior to Pfizer, she was Associate Vice President, International Affairs at PhRMA leading PhRMA’s international market access and policy team; Director of International Public and Government Affairs at Novartis; and U.S. Presidential Management Fellow and International Trade Specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce where she led the China and Northeast Asia portfolio in the Office of Intellectual Property Rights and was detailed to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Jennifer holds a JD from the Pennsylvania State University, an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science, studied Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford, and holds a BA in International Affairs from the George Washington University (magna cum laude). Jennifer has served as an appointed advisor by the U.S. Department of Commerce and USTR to multiple Industry Trade Advisory Committees.
Joe Larsen
Joe Larsen is Vice President, Clinical Development at Locus Biosciences where he leads development programs for Locus’s clinical stage assets. Previously, Dr. Larsen was Vice President, Strategic Portfolio Development at Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel antibiotics. Prior to that, Dr. Larsen spent ten years in the federal government, including serving as Deputy Director of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) medical countermeasures at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), where he oversaw the $2.8B Project Bioshield fund for the late-stage development and procurement of medical countermeasures. Dr. Larsen received his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a B.A. in microbiology from the University of Kansas.
John Billington
Head of Health Security and Infectious Disease Policy and Advocacy
John Billington is Head of Health Security and Infectious Disease Policy and Advocacy in the global corporate government affairs department of GSK. In this role, he is responsible for the company’s policy and advocacy strategy for infectious diseases at the enterprise level, with a focus on pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Prior to this role, John was director of science policy for the global vaccines business and director for U.S. vaccines policy before that. Before joining GSK, John was director of health policy at the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). At IDSA, John served as lead subject matter expert on vaccines, antibiotics, and medical countermeasures policy. He also launched and coordinated the U.S. Stakeholder Forum on Antimicrobial Resistance (S-FAR), a national stakeholder partnership to advance U.S. and global policies and practices in response to AMR. Earlier in his career, John was a manager in the health reform practice at Avalere Health, a health policy advisory firm. He was also a legislative fellow for health policy in the office of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. John received his Juris Doctor and Masters of Public Health from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He received his undergraduate degree from Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.
Kristina Shultz
Kristina Shultz is an Associate Vice President at AdvaMedDx, a division of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed). AdvaMedDx represents over 70 manufacturers of innovative in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests in the U.S. and abroad. In this role, Kristina works to advance the public policy priorities of AdvaMedDx members through education, advocacy, policy development, communications, and connectivity with public and private sector stakeholders. Kristina leads AdvaMedDx’s work on public health issues of concern, including COVID-19, influenza, and antimicrobial resistance.
Prior to this role, Kristina held several other positions within AdvaMed since joining the association in 2014. Kristina has extensive experience providing research, strategic planning, and content development across all of AdvaMed’s departments, divisions, and sectors. Kristina previously helped launch and operate AdvaMed’s Diabetes Sector, Research & Development Forum, and Center for Digital Health.
Kristina holds a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Cornell University and a Masters of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University.
Kristine Peers
Kristine Peers is General Counsel at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) since September 2017. Her role includes responsibility for EFPIA’s policy solutions to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
EFPIA’s mission is to create a collaborative environment that enables our members to innovate, discover, develop and deliver new therapies and vaccines for people across Europe, as well as contribute to the European economy. Our vision is for a healthier future for Europe. A future based on prevention, innovation, access to new treatments and better outcomes for patients.
Kristine builds on a career combining legal expertise with public policy and government relations. She has worked in various legal and corporate affairs functions at Belgian, European and global level. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Kristine practiced at the Belgian Bar. She graduated in law from Leuven University, Belgium, and obtained a post graduate qualification in European Law at the European University Centre in Nancy, France, where she was also visiting lecturer teaching European regulations of medicinal products to health professionals. Throughout her career she had several legal, business and leadership trainings including at INSEAD and NYU Stern. She is co-founder of the Brussels Pharma Law Group.
Liana Petrosova
Liana Petrosova is Regulatory Policy Manager for Medicines for Europe.
Marc Gitzinger
Marc Gitzinger is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of BioVersys. He has over 10 years of experience in the biotech industry, having launched a university spin-off in the field of antimicrobial resistance and growing it into a multi-asset early clinical stage company. Some of these assets will address significant unmet medical needs in infectious conditions such as tuberculosis and hospital acquired Acinetobacter infections. He has raised over $30 mio in equity financing and secured over $20 mio in non-dilutive funding. He has also established several important partnerships with a Big Pharma and other development organizations. Dr. Gitzinger is a multi-award-winning Biotech CEO, having received amongst others the Swiss Technology Award 2011, Venture Kick 2009 and Venture Leaders 2008 and 2017 awards for his work in founding and advancing BioVersys. He is also vice-president of the board of the BEAM Alliance, a European association representing over 60 European and international SMEs active in antimicrobial research and development. Dr. Gitzinger is a young thought leader in the field of antimicrobial research and development. He is passionate about next generation antimicrobial therapies and leads a highly motivated team striving to bring life-saving antimicrobial therapies to patients in need. He is also co-author on several high ranked scientific publications and patents in the field.
Masoud Dara
Dr. Masoud Dara is a physician and public health professional from Belgium with more than 25 years of experience in designing, implementing and evaluating health programs with a focus on infectious diseases. Since November 2021, he functions as the Director of Global Health and Alliances at Otsuka Novel Products Group GmbH. From October 2020 to October 2021, Dr. Dara served as the Special Representative of the WHO Regional Director to Belarus, providing strategic guidance and policy dialogue and leading the WHO Country Office activities. From October 2016 to October 2020, he coordinated the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s Communicable Diseases Department and led the WHO/Europe’s Joint Tuberculosis, HIV and viral hepatitis program. Before that, Dr Dara functioned as the WHO Senior Advisor to the European Union. He led the WHO/Europe’s TB and MDR-TB program between 2010 and 2014. From 2001 to 2010, he served as a Senior Consultant of the Royal Netherlands Tuberculosis Association (KNCV) and functioned as a WHO Medical Officer in Moscow.
Dr Dara has authored more than 60 publications in peer-reviewed journals and several WHO guidelines. He has been a chair and member of various scientific working groups. Furthermore, in various periods, he served as an Associate Editor of International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, a member of the Editorial Board of Eurosurveillance and a member of the Editorial Board of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Matthias Tyssen
Matthias Tyssen joined Fresenius Kabi in 2014, currently heading portfolio and project management, product development, strategic marketing, regulatory and medical affairs as well as alliance management for the generic drug and I.V. fluids portfolio of outside of North America. In this role Matthias is responsible for the development pipeline, maintenance of the product portfolio and product management of a 1.7 bn Euro business. The portfolio ranges from anti-Infectives, analgesics, oncology and critical care products to infusion solutions. Previously, he was responsible for the global parenteral nutrition portfolio and headed the business unit for infusion and irrigation solutions.
Matthias has a master in business and engineering from University of Stuttgart and a doctorate in strategic management from EBS Business School, Oestrich-Winkel.
Michael Lobritz
Michael Lobritz is the Head of Infectious Diseases Early Development at F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd, based in Basel, Switzerland. His group is responsible for the translational development of Roche antibiotics and antivirals from Phase 0 through Phase 2, including the demonstration of proof-of-mechanism and proof-of concept. Prior to joining Roche in 2017, Michael was attending physician in medicine and infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, USA. Michael previously completed postdoctoral research simultaneously at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and at the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, infectious diseases clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital, clinical medicine training at Stanford University Hospital, MD and PhD (microbiology) degrees at Case Western Reserve University, and undergraduate degree (biochemistry) at the University of Notre Dame.
Nacia Pupo Taylor
Nácia Pupo Taylor leads initiatives focused on health systems sustainability, global health security, anti-microbial resistance, emerging infectious diseases, and vaccines. Nácia is passionate about improving healthcare for everyone, everywhere and a strong believer in the critical role that the private sector must play in advancing effective public policies. Before taking her current role, Nácia was the policy lead for Johnson & Johnson in Latin America, focused on sustainable health care financing and value-based healthcare models. Prior to that, she held leadership roles in various businesses in the MedTech sector of Johnson & Johnson in Latin America in the areas of women’s health, infection prevention and diabetes care. She also worked on implementing access and professional education programs for general surgical procedures and breast cancer diagnosis.
A Brazilian native with extensive global experience, Nácia is a graduate of the Public Administration School at Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and holds an MBA with a focus on International Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Najy Alsayed
Currently, Global Therapeutic Area Head for Infectious Diseases at Menarini Group. His over 25 years’ experience and expertise in Pharma covers various disease fields including CNS, Gastroenterology, Bone diseases, oncology and infectious disease including vaccines and antibiotics working at Pfizer, Procter & Gamble Pharma, Novartis, Sanofi-Pasteur-MSD, CUBIST and MSD.
Prior to joining Pharma, he practiced for several years as clinician in internal medicine & nephrology and as a researcher in CV and lipid metabolism in Paris, France and at the NIH in Bethesda, USA.
He is a lecturing professor at EUDIPHARM University of Lyon-France, a keynote speaker and a primary author of a number of international publications. He is also a member of the European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID), The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and a Board member in 2 Biotech companies
After graduating from Medical School he did his internship training in Paris hospitals and undertook a master degree in clinical biochemistry at the university René Descartes-Paris V and a degree in international sales and marketing at IFIP in Paris, France.
Neil Moorhouse
Neil Moorhouse heads Global Communications and ESG at Centrient, the Netherlands-based business-to-business leader in antibiotics, statins and antifungals. Neil has more than 25 years experience in communications and the media, holding a variety roles in different industries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Neil has also worked at Sandoz, the generics pharmaceutical company, where he led External Communications and Global Communications as well as Sustainability and CSR, cooperating also with the European Generics Association, the predecessor to Medicines for Europe. Neil holds a Masters degree in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford.
Tanya Gottlieb
Dr. Tanya Gottlieb has a wealth of experience in the fields of biotechnology, diagnostics, and healthcare. Today, she serves as Vice President of Scientific Affairs at MeMed, a company pioneering host response technologies. Tanya is responsible for driving international collaborations aimed at improving management of patients with acute infection, promoting responsible use of antibiotics through innovative tools that support decision-making. She has coordinated governmental partnerships that establish MeMed’s lead technology for differentiating between bacterial and viral infection as a flagship innovation supporting appropriate antibiotic use. Dr. Gottlieb conducted her postdoctoral research at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA, USA. She holds a BA in Natural Sciences and a PhD from Cambridge University in the UK and an MBA from the Technion in Israel.
Tharini Sathiamoorthy
Tharini Sathiamoorthy is Director of Health Policy at Cepheid, a molecular diagnostics company that develops, manufactures, and markets fully integrated systems for molecular diagnostics testing. Tharini joined Cepheid in May 2021 and is responsible for federal and global government affairs and health policy on issues related to antimicrobial resistance, COVID-19, and infectious diseases. Tharini has over 20 years of experience in global, federal, and state health policy, government affairs, and public affairs. Tharini previously served as Vice President at AdvaMedDx, the trade association representing diagnostics manufacturers, where she supported government affairs advocacy, health policy, and public affairs efforts at the global, federal, and state levels. She has also worked at U.S. Pharmacopeia, APCO Worldwide, Marwood Group, Lewin Group, and the American College of Physicians. Tharini received a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Biology from Boston University and a Master of Health Sciences in Health Policy with a Certificate in Health Finance and Management from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Vasan Sambandamurthy
Dr. Vasan Sambandamurthy is Senior Vice President – Strategy & Global Operations at Bugworks Research Inc – a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that is developing novel class of broad-spectrum antibacterial agents and immunotherapies to treat patients with critical care needs.
Vasan brings over 20 years of professional experience in vaccine discovery and drug development at major global corporations. At these organisations he has held senior leadership positions, provided strategic directions, and orchestrated major business operations to develop affordable medicines across multiple therapeutic areas. Most recently, he was the Chief Executive Officer at the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance, a major global funding agency promoting basic, biomedical and clinical research across India.
Vasan is a recipient of several awards including the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) fellowship to pursue his post-doctoral research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York. He has over 50 publications in peer-reviewed international journals including Nature Medicine, Nature Immunology, Nature Communications and co-inventor on 4 patents. He is a vocal champion of AMR and actively communicates science across social media and national dailies to create awareness among the public.
Gareth Morgan
Gareth Morgan is a Senior Vice President and is Global Head of Portfolio Management and AMR Policy for Shionogi. In addition to leading the Portfolio Management team, Gareth is responsible for providing strategic and policy direction related to infectious diseases and frequently represents Shionogi on related government affairs and policy assignments. Gareth has 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including clinical development and project/portfolio management positions with BMS, Bayer, Genentech (now Roche) and Hoechst-Roussel (now Sanofi). He has led or provided functional and strategic oversight to development programs across multiple geographies and therapeutic areas.
Yonina Fleischman
Yonina Fleischman holds the position of ESG Access to Medicines Lead at Teva Pharmaceuticals. In her role, she leads Teva Access, a key component of Teva’s ESG strategy, whose mission is to bring sustainable solutions that expand access to Teva’s broad portfolio of medicines to improve the health of patients in need throughout the world. Teva’s access strategic donation and social business programs are largely geared specifically toward vulnerable populations with unmet need in low and middle income countries, who experience financial affordability or physical access barriers. Prior to her role at Teva, Yonina has held positions at the Israeli Ministry of Health and at a number of Israeli non-governmental organizations, with a focus on access to care and health promotion. She has also worked extensively on health promotion within the Bedouin population and the asylum seeker community in Israel. An avid traveler, Yonina has spent considerable periods of time working in the field of public health with low income communities around the world, with an emphasis on women, children and other vulnerable populations. This has included health outreach in Ghana, empowerment programming in Nepal, and community development and health advocacy in post-earthquake Haiti. Originally from the US, Yonina is now based in Israel. She holds a Master’s in Public Health from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Bachelor’s in International Studies from Brandeis University.
Boumediene Soufi
Dr. Boumediene Soufi is a biotechnologist by training, specializing in the field of microbial quantitative proteomics. He holds the position of Global Head Antimicrobial Resistance at Sandoz, the largest provider of generic antibiotic medicines globally. The program focuses on combatting this unprecedented global health threat in collaboration with multi-sectoral partners.
Boumediene joined Sandoz in 2015 and has held progressively senior positions focusing on sustainable efficiency, digital innovation, and leading the entire end-to end Sandoz anti-infectives portfolio pipeline ensuring that patients worldwide have access to the right medicine at the right time. His passion and motivation for combatting AMR is rooted in his extensive scientific experience, particularly studying complex bacteria and their resistance mechanisms. He combines this with a strong commercial understanding of the pharmaceutical industry and the role of appropriate incentives in shaping effective public health policy. Boumediene firmly believes that a strong wide-ranging public-private collaboration effort focused on innovation, proper antibiotic use through strong stewardship efforts, robust surveillance processes, and improved access to quality affordable medicines are keys to winning the fight against AMR.
Jean-Louis Tissier
Jean-Louis is Vice President, Public and Government Affairs – AMR at bioMérieux since October 2019. As a world leader in in vitro diagnostics, focusing on infectious diseases, bioMérieux has a long-standing commitment to fighting AMR. This commitment is at the heart of the Company’s mission to serve public health all around the globe.
Jean-Louis joined the company in 1984 holding roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Vice President Global Marketing in Microbiology (2007-2011) and Vice President Northern Europe (2011-2019) which allowed him to accumulate rich experience in the field of in vitro diagnostics. He graduated from the Business School of the Conservatoire National Des Arts et Métiers in Paris and received his Master degree in Biology from the University of Paris.
Adam Zerda
Adam develops and leads cross-sector collaborations to address global unmet health needs. By partnering with international agencies, governments and non-government organizations, BD works to address specific health goals which include improving pandemic preparedness, strengthening clinical and laboratory practices, safely immunizing children, addressing infectious and non-communicable diseases, combating antimicrobial resistance and improving safety for health workers and patients.
Adam is currently driving BD’s policy efforts in response to COVID-19 and its impact on pandemic preparedness efforts globally. This cross-company initiative includes measures to enhance supply chain resiliency, expand surveillance and improve access to vaccinations and testing capabilities in response to current and future threats.
Adam has previously held role in strategy, R&D and innovation at BD, most recently leading BD’s efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). He is a board director of North Carolina BIO and the AMR Industry Alliance and holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering and a B.S. in Chemistry.
Emily Wheeler
Emily Wheeler is Director of Infectious Disease Policy at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). Ms. Wheeler is responsible for working with member companies engaged in antimicrobial research, development, and commercialization, and leads BIO’s antimicrobial resistance (AMR) legislative and regulatory policy efforts. She is also the Director of the Working to Fight AMR public awareness campaign. Ms. Wheeler serves on the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB) and is a member of the Stakeholder Group for the Global AMR R&D Hub. She represents the biotech sector as Board member on the AMR Industry Alliance (AMRIA) and is co-Chair of AMRIA’s Research and Science Working Group. Prior to joining BIO, Ms. Wheeler held a position as Associate Director at The Conafay Group, a life-sciences government relations firm that serves as coalition manager and Washington Counsel for the Antimicrobials Working Group (AWG). In this role Ms. Wheeler led AMR policy efforts for a coalition of small and mid-sized antimicrobials companies, and engaged with stakeholders representing health care providers, patients, public health, scientists, and industry. Ms. Wheeler has experience in health care policy and provision both domestically and internationally through fieldwork in Senegal, Rwanda and the Philippines focused on maternal and child health, nutrition, emergency relief for refugee populations, and monitoring and evaluation for a variety of programs. Ms. Wheeler is a Presidential Academic Scholar from George Washington University and earned a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs with dual concentrations in Global Public Health and International Development.