2020 Employee Champions

Phil is the Head of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Sunovion, but he also takes the time to participate in "State Researcher Fly-In Days." Before these events, he takes the time to research the legislators he will meet and then develops the key points for each meeting. His research experience has impacted multiple meetings in key state capitals where the industry is working to ensure positive policy changes are implemented.

Going beyond his responsibilities as a researcher and leader, Miguel is extremely active in UCB's public affairs and PAC activities. He is a leader in local/state activities and engagements with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Association and is focused on expanding UCB's presence in the state. Furthermore, he has led a group of local, state and federal officials on a tour of UCB’s Bedford facilities to continue to build the company's narrative and reputation.

Danielle started as an intern at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) and worked her way up to a lab manager, where she now trains the next generation of scientists. Over the past two years, Danielle has helped spearhead R&D support for facility tours at the U.S. headquarters, showing federal and state policymakers first-hand the important work that happens in BI's labs. She is able to explain complex science and research processes in an easily digestible way while walking policymakers through high tech lab spaces, sharing scientific processes underway and providing various information requested.

As the Head of Health Policy and Advocacy, John works to protect patient access by collaborating with both advocacy groups and with the J&J Government Affairs and Policy team. The Brooks Group ADVOCATE report has recognized Mr. Hoffman and his colleagues as leaders of advocacy relations in the pharmaceutical industry.

In addition to his role at Biogen, Chris and his team are an essential resource to the company's Public Policy and Government Affairs (PPGA) team. Chris and his team developed Biogen’s Pricing and Access Principles, which is a guiding post for Biogen with a focus on the value to patients, society, innovation, value, and affordability and sustainability. As the PPGA team advocates in D.C. and with state governments, Chris and his team are available to personalize the approach and perspective on complex biopharmaceutical issues.

Brendan and the Novartis Emergency Management team was called into action to lead the company's U.S. COVID-19 response team. His tasks included procuring and delivering 125,000 face coverings, 16,000 thermometers and 5,000 field force kits (masks, gloves, sanitizer, wipes). He also monitored and coordinated differing regulatory compliance requirements across 50 states while instituting an active on-site pre-screening program to support critical activities (25,000+ screenings across 17 sites).

Chris is currently the Senior Director for Clinical Laboratory Sciences with over 25 years of experience with Eli Lilly and Company. Chris and Dr. Janelle Sabo helped develop Indiana's largest COVID-19 reference lab that helped the state almost immediately increase its testing capacity from approximately 300 tests per day to 30,000 tests per day.

Outside of his role as a Senior Regional Director, Jeff frequently represents Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) at meetings and events with federal and state elected officials and with other key policymaker stakeholders. He is a passionate advocate for the patients the industry serves. He has been instrumental in getting his colleagues involved by recruiting new PAC members and grassroots Ambassadors. As a result, the programs have grown and succeeded because of his work and dedication.

Dr. Janelle A. Sabo currently leads clinical systems, supply and innovation within the Clinical Design, Delivery, and Analytics division, enabling clinical development from early discovery through commercialization. She helped develop Indiana's largest COVID-19 reference lab and the state’s largest drive through testing facility. Along with Chris Otto, she assisted in building a lab design strategy and a supply chain management program that built the state’s capacity to almost 30,000 COVID-19 tests per day.

Christine leads Pfizer’s Biotherapeutics Pharmaceutical Sciences (BTx Pharm Sci) with five global sites and is accountable for overseeing and providing strategic direction and operational implementation for aspects of advancing the Pfizer biologics and vaccines clinical portfolio. Earlier this year, she joined Missouri Governor Mike Parson during his daily COVID-19 briefing and highlighted the role the Missouri site would play in developing a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr. Starling plays the invaluable role in supporting Merck’s work on political and federal advocacy issues by providing not only content expertise on Merck’s portfolio of products and development pipeline, but also helping ensure that the government affairs team is able to educate congressional staff on issues surrounding the innovation ecosystem and Merck’s commitment to research and development. His extensive experience gives him a unique ability to distill the science and rapidly assess the business implications of complex policy proposals focused on the biopharmaceutical industry.

As Executive Director of Global Supplier Diversity & Sustainability at BMS, Rondu is deeply involved with key organizations geared towards supplier diversity and has forged strong partnerships with over 25 international and national advocacy groups for small and diverse businesses. Additionally, he played a huge role in BMS' COVID-19 response efforts. To support small/diverse suppliers and vendors impacted by COVID-19, Rondu and the BMS Procurement Team came up with the Supplier Liquidity Program, which allowed them to initiate several levers to expedite payments to small/diverse businesses to assist with cash flow issues caused by the pandemic.

Troy Webb serves as VP Pharma Supply Chain & Strategy, Future Ready Transformation. In addition to overseeing the production of the company's respiratory medications, he is also a great partner to GSK's government relations team. He is willing to take the time to educate elected officials on the important lifesaving medications being produced by the Zebulon team and has met with the North Carolina General Assembly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Troy and the site leadership team stayed in communication with government relations regarding stay-at-home orders.