Dr. Balch is the Chief Executive Officer of Patient Advocate Foundation and National Patient Advocate Foundation.

Dr. Balch has nearly fifteen years of executive leadership in the non-profit sector with an emphasis on consensus-building and collaboration. He has led numerous federal advocacy efforts on a range of issues both at the legislative and regulatory level over the years. He became the CEO of both PAF and NPAF in 2013. From 2006 - 2013, he served as the Vice President of the Preventive Health Partnership -- a national health promotion collaboration between the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, and American Heart Association. Prior to his work with the Preventive Health Partnership, Dr. Balch was the Executive Director of Friends of Cancer Research.

Dr. Balch has served on the Executive Board of the Patient Advocate Foundation and National Patient Advocate Foundation since 2007. Dr. Balch also serves on numerous advisory boards and committees. He is a member of the External Advisory Board for the Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research (HICOR), a member of the Duke-Margolis Payment Reform Group, a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Avalere Cost of Care Advisory Board, a member of the Quality and Outcomes Committee for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), and recently served as a member of the Guiding Committee for the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network (LAN). Dr. Balch also serves on the Finance Committee and the Membership Committee for the National Health Council in Washington, DC, is a member of the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Consumer Advisory Council, and sits on the inaugural board for The American Journal of Managed Care’s (AJMC) Institute for Value-Based Medicine (IVBM).

He earned his PhD in environmental studies with a concentration in political economy in 2003 from the University of California, Santa Cruz; his master’s degree in environmental sciences in 1997 from the University of Texas in San Antonio; his bachelor’s degree (cum laude) in biology in 1994 from Trinity University in San Antonio. Dr. Balch is the Chief Executive Officer of Patient Advocate Foundation and National Patient Advocate Foundation.

Dr. Balch has a decade of executive leadership in the non-profit sector with an emphasis on consensus-building and collaboration. From 2006 - 2013, he served as the Vice President of the Preventive Health Partnership -- a national health promotion collaboration between the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, and American Heart Association. Prior to his work with the Preventive Health Partnership, Dr. Balch was the Executive Director of Friends of Cancer Research. He has led numerous federal advocacy efforts on a range of issues both at the legislative and regulatory level over the years. For example, he helped to organize and lead a coalition that successfully fought for improvements in the regulatory process for the review of cancer drugs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He also contributed to the development of key federal policies related to the Affordable Care Act.

Dr. Balch serves on the Executive Board of the Patient Advocate Foundation and National Patient Advocate Foundation. Dr. Balch also serves on numerous advisory boards and committees. He is a member of the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Wellness and Health Promotion Advisory Committee, a member of the Guiding Committee for the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network (LAN), a member of the Advisory Board for the Patient Resource Cancer Guides, External Advisory Board member for the Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research (HICOR) and a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Avalere Cost of Care Advisory Board. Dr. Balch also serves on the Finance Committee and the Membership Committee for the National Health Council in Washington, DC and recently accepted an invitation to join the inaugural board for The American Journal of Managed Care’s (AJMC) newest initiative, the Institute for Value-Based Medicine (IVBM). He is also a member of the 2017 Access to Innovation Forum Steering Committee for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). He earned his PhD in environmental studies in 2003 from the University of California, Santa Cruz; his master’s degree in environmental sciences in 1997 from the University of Texas in San Antonio; his bachelor’s degree (cum laude) in biology in 1994 from Trinity University in San Antonio.

Cathryn is a health care strategist, innovator and collaborateur, working across public and private sectors. She founded a boutique consulting agency directed at enhancing the performance of organizations dedicated to improving population health. She specializes in developing strategies and delivering transformational collaborations that create greater health impact for patients, health care consumers and populations in need.

Recently, Cathryn launched MSD’s Global Population Health, establishing the corporate framework for innovative population health approaches that create sustained social and business value. This work includes advancing the company’s thought leadership to improve patient and community health literacy through the application of evidence-based health literacy principles. Cathryn leads the company’s workforce wellbeing strategy, and supports a number of population health advancements in antimicrobial stewardship, prevention through immunization, women’s health and non-communicable diseases.

She serves on the Boards of the National Business Group on Health and the Grand View Health Foundation and is a member of the Global Chief Medical Officers’ Network. She serves on the Health Evolution Summit Leadership Committee and the George Mason University Center for the Advancement of Wellbeing. Cathryn is married, a mother of 3 and a practicing equestrian.