2020 Speaking Faculty

Robyn Bent joined the US FDA in 2019 as the director of CDER’s Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) Initiative, an effort to systematically obtain patient input and facilitate the incorporation of meaningful patient input into drug development and regulatory decision making. The PFDD initiative includes the CDER Standard Core Clinical Outcomes Assessments and Endpoints Pilot Grant Program which was recently launched and will provide avenues to advance the use of patient input as an important part of drug development. Prior to joining FDA, Robyn was a Chief Scientific Program Specialist at the National Institutes of Health. Captain Bent has extensive experience in clinical trial design, conduct, and oversight. Robyn earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The Catholic University of America and her Master of Science degree from the George Washington University.

Trisha Devlin is the Sr Director of Patient Value at Dermira. The Patient Value department consists of Patient Advocacy, Centricity and Engagement. She leads the company’s efforts to advance Dermira’s approach as a Dermatology patient focused company. She has a passion for learning what matters most to patients and identifying effective ways to engage with them.

Prior to joining Dermira, Trisha worked at ZS Pharma (which was acquired by Astra Zeneca) where she led the patient marketing and advocacy efforts. Before ZS Pharma, Trisha worked at Mallinckrodt and NextWave Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer) where she led multiple marketing roles with a specific emphasis with patients. She has over 15 years of experience in Advocacy, Marketing, Sales and Finance and worked within the Dermatology, Cardiology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, Psychology and Oncology spaces.

Andrea Furia-Helms is the Director of the Patient Affairs Staff in the Office of Medial Products and Tobacco, Office of the Commissioner. She works with the FDA medical product centers and other offices to support the FDA’s ongoing patient engagement efforts and is coordinating cross-cutting patient engagement activities to ensure patients, caregivers, and advocates have opportunities to share their perspectives in the FDA regulatory meetings. Ms. Furia-Helms spent the over ten years in the FDA’s Office of Health and Constituent Affairs where she directed the FDA Patient Representative Program and coordinated patient engagement activities.

Prior to FDA, Ms. Furia-Helms was Director of the Back to Sleep (now Safe to Sleep) campaign, a public-private partnership to educate communities on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), at the National Institutes of Health. She developed SIDS outreach initiatives for African American, American Indian and Latino communities.

Ms. Furia-Helms has a B.A. in psychology from Framingham State University, a B.S. degree in community health education from University of Maryland, and a Master of Public Health degree from The George Washington University.

Dina Marie Inverso is the Head of Reimbursement and Patient Engagement Strategies at CSL Behring. In this role, she is currently focused on leading a strategic center of excellence which includes programs and support that ensure access and education to CSL therapies for rare and orphan diseases. Dina has more than 20 years of diverse healthcare experience. Prior to joining CSL Behring, Dina served as US Franchise Leader for Merck’s Oncology Business, additional roles included positions as Senior Director of Oncology Marketing, and pivotal roles in Economic Affairs and Reimbursement. Dina holds an MBA in Marketing from the Haub School of Business ,a B.S. in Microbiology, and worked as clinical cytogeneticist. She has extensive experience in Patient Assistance, Reimbursement, Market Access, Marketing and Commercialization Strategies.

Emily Lemiska lives with pain due to a rare congenital defect known as Klippel-Feil syndrome. She first became involved with U.S. Pain Foundation as an INvisible Project magazine featured participant in 2015 and officially joined the staff in 2016 as Associate Director of State Advocacy. In 2017, she moved into a new role as Director of Communications. In this position, she coordinates the organization's newsletter, social media, and web content, as well as its educational materials and PEP Talk webinar series. She also has spoken out about patient issues at key forums, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food & Drug Administration, the Connecticut State House, and others

Prior to U.S. Pain, Emily worked as a freelance writer and editor and earlier on, in Public Affairs and Communications at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she focused on quality and safety, community health, and health care disparities. Outside of her current efforts with U.S. Pain, Emily serves as associate director of a small patient support organization, Klippel-Feil Syndrome Freedom. She sometimes writes essays about managing her health, and has been published in Pain Pathways, Folks magazine, Blast magazine, and Bustle.

Harvey Littman leads Capital BlueCross’ finance, actuarial, corporate tax, and sourcing departments. With more than 30 years of experience, he has held executive leadership positions at national and regional health plans including Scott & White Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare, and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. His areas of expertise include financial management, acquisitions, and healthcare analytics. Harvey serves as treasurer of the board of directors for Hamilton Health in Harrisburg and on the executive leadership team for the Heart Ball for the American Heart Association of Greater Harrisburg.

Jordanna Mora, LCGC, MS, MBA is dedicated to improving the lives of families affected by genetic disease. At Alnylam, Jordanna is leading the company’s global patient advocacy efforts in the acute hepatic porphyrias. Prior to joining Alnylam, Jordanna served as Director of Medical Marketing at Clementia Pharmaceuticals and co-founded and served as Director of Genetics at Inherited Health (DBA AccessDNA, Inc.), a consumer internet company that created online content and leveraged social sharing concepts to educate individuals about hereditary risks and diagnostic options.

Steven R. Peskin, MD is the Executive Medical Director, Population Health at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. His expertise encompasses physician leadership, population health management, clinical and operational performance improvement in health care, medical education and scientific communications. He has been one of the driving forces for the creation of and successful maturation of value based models in New Jersey.

Dr. Peskin is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He is a clinical preceptor at The Eric B, Chandler Clinic for interns and residents in Internal Medicine. Dr. Peskin assists with the Population Health and business of medicine training for the Rutgers RWJ Internal Medicine physicians in training.

Dr. Peskin received his bachelor’s degree from The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine. He completed residency at Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston and holds an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Michele Rhee was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at 20 while a junior in college, which led to the diagnosis of a life-threatening rare disease the next year. Unlike many others diagnosed with cancer or a life-threatening rare disease, Michele was lucky enough to have effective treatments and chose to dedicate her career to helping other patients who did not have the same luck. At the time, she had never heard of patient advocacy, but today, she is a patient advocate by profession and passion. Michele is Head of Patient Affairs at Enzyvant, a founding Board member of Costs of Care, and a Sambassador for the Samfund.

Marla Wexler is 35 years old, was born with a complex congenital heart defect, and had 4 open-heart surgeries by the time she was 6. She went from pediatric cardiac ICU patient to pediatric cardiac ICU nurse until being diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematous (lupus). Due to complications from the disease, she was forced to put her nursing career on hold. Since 2008, Marla has been diagnosed with lupus and multiple rare autoimmune diseases, cervical cancer, and lobular carcinoma in situ. She’s the creator and author of the blog Luck Fupus (www.luckfupus.com) which she writes about the day-to-day and long-term struggles of living with multiple chronic illnesses. She’s known for her humorous, keep-it-real style of writing. Her blog was used as a platform to help her become a patient leader and influencer, and Marla now travels the country attending healthcare conferences, speaking publicly sharing her story, educating and advocating for patients across the globe.

Prior to joining EMD Serono, Scott held leadership positions at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Men's Health Network for 13 years. Prior to this, he held positions in industry working for Sanofi Pasteur and PharmaStrat, Inc. Scott received his BA in Political Science with Honors and a minor in Business Management from Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. Scott also has a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from American University in Washington, DC. Scott is currently a member of the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) Board of Directors.