Meghan (Hover) Szczech currently is the Director, Patient Services, leading the strategy and operation of all of the HUBs, PAP, Co-Pay, and Nursing programs. As part of her role at Ipsen, she is managing four products with nine indications that span three disease states. While at Ipsen, she has lead the team to develop an online enrollment portal for patients and HCPs and a text adherence program for patients to ensure they stay on their therapies. Prior to Ipsen, Meghan was at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Inc. as a Senior Manager, Reimbursement and Patient Access managing the Reimbursement HUBs for ABILIFY tablets and ABILIFY MAINTENA and support of patient assistance programs, telehealth nursing and co-pay programs. At Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Meghan held roles of increasing responsibility to in the Access team supporting reimbursement, patient assistance, and co-pay program during the launch of DIFICID. Meghan began her career at Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems, Inc. supporting the pharmaceutical contracts between J&J; and many different types of payors, including Managed Care, Long Term Care, Medicare Part D, and Government.

Meghan has a MBA from Rider University (Lawrenceville, NJ) and an undergraduate degree in Economics and Spanish from Hamilton College (Clinton, NY).

Desiree Priestley is the Director, Otsuka Patient Support Strategy & Insights. She is responsible for strategic option generation and assessment, business planning, data management and insights, liaising with external and stakeholders across the OAPI portfolio, and Patient Support digital solutions. The team’s activities enable the Patient Support program to improve the overall patient and provider experience while gaining end-to-end visibility of the patient journey.

Desiree’s experience spans more than 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry, and she has held various roles in sales, training, and Patient Support. Additionally, she has served as Program Manager for the HBA Mid-Atlantic Corporate Relations Committee since 2016. She attended the University of Pittsburgh where she was a Varsity Swimmer, National Society of Collegiate Scholars member, and earned a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies, which was based upon Biology, Latin American Studies, and the Conceptual Foundations of Medicine. This Spring, she will be graduating from Maurice A. Dean School of Law at Hofstra University with a Master of Arts in Health Law and Policy.

Stephen E. Perkins, MD, serves as the Chief Medical Officer, Commercial & Medicare Services for UPMC Health Plan. As a member of Health Plan’s senior management team, Dr. Perkins provides clinical leadership for all Quality Improvement, Medical Management , and Provider Network Development activities. In addition, he oversees UPMC Health Plan Community Health Initiatives with UPMC as an integrated finance and delivery system.

Previously Dr. Perkins serviced as Vice President of Medical Affairs and Senior Medical Director for UPMC Health Plan. In that position, he provided strategic and clinical leadership and medical oversight for the Health Plan’s commercial products and served as senior medical director for UPMC WorkPartners’ suite of workers’ compensation, employee assistance, health promotion, and health management products.

Prior to joining the Health Plan in 2010, Dr. Perkins served for 12 years as corporate medical director for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, the largest Vermont-based health coverage carrier. His 30 years in the health care field also included 13 years as a family physician in South Charleston, W.Va.

Dr. Perkins received his undergraduate degree in biology from West Virginia University and his M.D. from the WVU School of Medicine in Morgantown. He completed his residency in Family Practice at Kanawha Valley Family Practice Center in South Charleston, W. Va.

Ray Tancredi is divisional vice president, Specialty Pharmacy Development Brand Rx/Vaccine Purchasing, at Walgreens, based in Deerfield, Illinois Tancredi oversees a team responsible for all specialty pharmacy trade functions including Specialty Pharmacy product access, including limited distribution and relationships, managing manufacturer hub services and referrals, contract negotiation, implementation and compliance, pharma programs and services, data analysis and reporting, RFP support and coordinating clinical, patient services, new drug in-services, and education. Additionally, he oversees management of strategic manufacturer accounts in an effort of maximize contracts and provide exceptional customer service. Tancredi also oversees the team responsible for brand prescription drug launches and vaccine procurement including flu vaccine, GPO relationships, and specialty pharmacy distributors.

EDUCATION: Tancredi earned his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Temple University School of Pharmacy (1983) and is a registered pharmacist in PA and FL. He also holds a Master of Business Administration in Management from Eastern University (2001).

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS: He is president of the Specialty Pharmacy Certification Board (SPCB) and is a Certified Specialty Pharmacist (CSP Certificate 032).

Professional mental health speaker, author, thought leader, trusted advisor to international business executives, Carol Kivler is also a passionate advocate for mental health. A survivor of four bouts of treatment-resistant depression, she battled this devastating and debilitating mental illness with courage and faith to a full and sustained recovery.

Carol is an ardent advocate for consumers struggling with depression and mental illness. Through her four books, mental health presentations and Courageous Recovery, Inc., her 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, Carol works tirelessly to overcome stigma and misrepresentations that still surround those suffering from mental illnesses. As a consumer advocate and mental health speaker, she tells the story of the treatment that saved her life, Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), and shares strategies for maintaining sustained recovery and mental wellness. Her motivational presentations resonate with mental and medical health professionals, consumers, their families and friends, inspiring compassion, understanding and hope.

Carol is an authentic, riveting, and memorable motivational speaker. Her high-energy and compelling mental health presentations change thinking and encourage participants to move from mental illness to the realm of mental wellness.

David Kowalsky is the Director, Patient Access at EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, leading the strategy and operation of HUBs, PAP, Co-Pay, and Reimbursement programs.

Prior to joining EyePoint, David was with Novo Nordisk in a variety of roles across Finance, Pricing, Procurement, Managed Markets, and Patient Support. He led the development and launch for the NovoCare™ platform which integrated multiple patient support services for 9 retail products, creating a digital Hub to support patients and HCPs. David started his career as US Air Force Officer before transitioning into the pharmaceutical industry.

David has an MBA from Rutgers Business School and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

As Vice President, Pharma Business Development & Contracting, Rob is responsible for pharma business development and contracting for Accredo and CuraScript Specialty Distribution, as well as the contracting team for UBC.

Rob has more than 25 years of healthcare experience. He joined the organization in 2005 with extensive knowledge of the PBM, Specialty Pharmacy, Specialty Distribution, and Patient Access Services. Previous to his current role, Rob held integral sales positions within Specialty, supporting Accredo, UBC, and Specialty Distribution. Rob previously held positions at SuperGen Oncology, Inc., Lilly Oncology, Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology, and Berlex Laboratories (now Bayer). He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Indiana University and his MBA from Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College.

Chris is responsible for leading Karyopharm’s operations, business development and legal departments and has been with the Company since March 2014.

Prior to joining Karyopharm, Chris worked at multiple international law firms and led internal legal and business development departments. He was a Counsel at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, a full-service multinational law firm, and he served as Vice President, Corporate Development, General Counsel and Secretary of GlassHouse Technologies, Inc., an information technology consulting company, where he led global legal operations and managed asset and subsidiary acquisition and sale activity. Chris began his career at Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP, a global law firm focused on venture capital and the emerging technology marketplace.

Chris received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy and English from Georgetown University, a Master of Business Administration from the Boston College Carroll School of Management and a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School.

For more than 15 years, Kevin Robbins has provided expert patient access strategy and solutions for the development and delivery of hub support services. He has extensive experience in designing, implementing, and streamlining patient access solutions for providers and patients through technology. Additionally, Kevin has established long-term relationships and nurtured strong partnerships with life sciences companies throughout the industry.

At AssistRx, Kevin is responsible for generating new business development and client strategy, maintaining high-standard execution for all clients, and driving delivery of AssistRx solutions for specialty or highly-managed medications.

Kevin earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a Minor in Statistics from Pennsylvania State University.

Throughout his healthcare career, John’s mission has been to define and build unique programs that are recognized as “best in class” for patient experience and outcomes. With extensive experience from both the pharmaceutical manufacture and within a large integrated health system, John embraces the opportunity to connect specialty patients and their providers to manufactures, payers, plan sponsors, and others, to create a patient-centric, clinical care team model that produces superior, demonstrable results in patient care.

John is a proud graduate of the University of Georgia, receiving his Master’s in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of South Carolina.