BARDA
Industry Day

Dr. Robert Kadlec is the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). The ASPR serves as the Secretary's principal advisor on matters related to public health emergencies, including bioterrorism. The office leads the nation in preventing, responding to and recovering from the adverse health effects of manmade and naturally occurring disasters and public health emergencies. As such, the office coordinates interagency activities between HHS, other federal agencies, and state and local officials responsible for emergency preparedness and the protection of the civilian population from public health emergencies.

Dr. Kadlec spent more than 20 years as a career officer and physician in the United States Air Force before retiring as a Colonel.  Over the course of his career, he has held senior positions in the White House, the U.S. Senate, and the Department of Defense. Most recently, he served as the Deputy Staff Director to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Dr. Kadlec previously served as staff director for Senator Richard Burr’s subcommittee on bioterrorism and public health in the 109th Congress. In that capacity, he was instrumental in drafting the Pandemic and All-Hazard Preparedness Bill which was signed into law to improve the nation’s public health and medical preparedness and response capabilities for emergencies, whether deliberate, accidental, or natural.

Dr. Kadlec also served at the White House from 2002 to 2005 as director for biodefense on the Homeland Security Council, where he was responsible for conducting the biodefense end-to-end assessment, which culminated in drafting the National Biodefense Policy for the 21st Century. He served as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush for Biodefense Policy from 2007 to 2009.

Earlier in his career, he served as the Special Advisor for Counter proliferation Policy at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he assisted DOD efforts to counter chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats in the wake of 9/11 and contributed to the FBI investigation of the anthrax letter attacks. He began his career as a flight surgeon for the 16th Special Operations Wing and subsequently served as a surgeon for the 24th Special Tactics Squadron and as Special Assistant to J-2 for Chemical and Biological Warfare at the Joint Special Operations Command.  He was named U.S. Air Force Flight Surgeon of the Year in 1986.

Dr. Kadlec holds a bachelor’s degree from the United States Air Force Academy, a doctorate of medicine and a master’s degree in tropical medicine and hygiene from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, as well as a master’s degree in national security studies from Georgetown University.

Mr. Douglas W. Bryce was designated the Joint Program Executive Officer for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) on 22 October 2015. As the JPEO-CBRND, he has materiel acquisition decision authority for the services on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense equipment. He provides acquisition management and professional leadership on complex issues related to joint service CBRN defense acquisition programs. He plans, directs, manages, coordinates the JPEO-CBRND’s mission and is responsible for the development, acquisition, distribution, and deployment of highly specialized and dynamic joint CBRN defense devices, as well as medical diagnostic systems, drugs, and vaccines.

For the 10 years prior to his current role, Mr. Bryce served as the Deputy Joint Program Executive Officer for Chemical and Biological Defense, overseeing a diverse team of acquisition professionals and technical subject matter experts to effectively manage the CBRN defense acquisition process. From 2003-2005, he served concurrently as the Joint Project Manager for Individual Protective Equipment and the Project Manager for Marine Corps CBRN Defense Equipment. Prior to 2005, he was the Project Manager for Individual Marine Combat Equipment and NBC Defense Equipment, and the Product Manager for NBC Defense Equipment for Marine Corps Systems Command. Mr. Bryce served 20 years in the United States Marine Corps, retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 3.

Mr. Bryce attended Los Angeles Community College, holds a Level III Program Management Certification from the Defense Acquisition University and is a member of the Navy Acquisition Corps. He authored articles published in Military Medical Technology magazine, Marine magazine and the Marine Corps Gazette.

Mr. Bryce’s awards include the Navy Unit Commendation, Marine Corps Systems Command; the David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award; the Commander’s Roundtable Team Excellence Award; the Navy Certificate of Excellence; the Meritorious Service Medal (Gold Star in lieu of second award); and the Navy Commendation Medal (Gold Star in lieu of second award).

Evan Loh, M.D. is the Chief Executive Officer since June 2019. Prior to that, Dr. Loh served as Chief Operating Officer from January 2017 to June 2019 and as President and Chief Medical Officer from July 2014, in each case until June 2019. He is a member of the Board of Directors since July 2014. Prior to the merger with Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Loh was appointed President in June 2014 and served as Chief Medical Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors from June 2012 to June 2014.

Previously, Dr. Loh served as Senior Vice President, Development and Strategic Operations, Worldwide Research and Development, at Pfizer. While at Pfizer, Dr. Loh’s responsibilities included scientific, operational, and strategic drug development oversight for all pre-proof of concept development phase programs and leading portfolio prioritization. Dr. Loh joined Pfizer from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, where he was Vice President, Multiple Therapeutic Areas where he was responsible for global development strategy and clinical operational deliverables. At Wyeth, he led the successful global registration programs for Torisel and Tygacil.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and as Chair of the Antimicrobials Working Group, an industry leading organization of biotech companies focused on antimicrobial development. Dr. Loh served as a director on the Board of Nivalis from 2012 until the completion of its sale to Alpine Immunotherapeutics in 2017.

Dr. Loh served as a faculty member at both Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Loh received his A.B. from Harvard College and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed his Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Adam Boehler serves as the first Chief Executive Officer of the new U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). He was appointed by the President and unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 2019.

Mr. Boehler has extensive experience in investment, entrepreneurship, and innovation both in and outside of the U.S. Government. Prior to his confirmation, he led healthcare innovation for the United States. He served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Deputy Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Director of the Innovation Center at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this role, Mr. Boehler oversaw 600 people focused on innovation in the American healthcare system to create better outcomes for patients, healthier communities, and lower the cost of healthcare.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Boehler founded three successful businesses and was widely regarded as a leader in the healthcare and private investment sectors. Most recently, he served as CEO of Landmark Health, a company he founded that delivers round-the-clock medical care to chronically ill patients in their homes. During Mr. Boehler’s tenure, Landmark grew to be the largest home-based medical group in the country, with over 1,000 employees serving 80,000 patients. This first half of Mr. Boehler’s career focused on domestic and international investing in the United States and Israel. Mr. Boehler also worked for the Financial and Fiscal Commission in South Africa where he focused on advocating for fiscal responsibility in the provinces.

Mr. Boehler was born and raised outside of Albany, New York and earned his degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is married and has four young children.

Michelle McMurry-Heath assumed the leadership of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) as President and CEO on June 1, 2020. A medical doctor and molecular immunologist by training, Dr. McMurry-Heath becomes just the third chief executive to steward the world’s largest biotechnology advocacy group since BIO’s founding in 1993.

BIO represents 1,000 life sciences companies and organizations from 30 countries. The organization’s mission is to discover and deploy scientific breakthroughs that improve human heath, environmental stewardship, and sustainable agriculture.

The common thread in McMurry-Heath’s work across academia, government and industry has been her focus on broadening access to scientific progress so more patients from diverse backgrounds can benefit from cutting-edge innovation. Driven by her own past family experiences navigating clinical trials and funding uncertainties in the rare disease community, McMurry-Heath calls “the distribution of scientific progress the social justice issue of our age."

She comes to BIO from Johnson & Johnson where she served as Global Head of Evidence Generation for Medical Device Companies and then Vice President of Global External Innovation and Global Leader for Regulatory Sciences. She was also instrumental in bringing J&J’s incubator, JLabs, to Washington, DC. She led a global team of 900 with responsibilities in 150 countries around the globe.

Prior to her time at J&J, Dr. McMurry-Heath was also a key science policy leader in government. The Obama-Biden transition team tapped her to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the National Science Foundation’s policies, programs and personnel. President Obama then named her associate science director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health under Commissioner Peggy Hamburg. In that role, she championed clinical trial evolution, the use of real-world evidence in product evaluation, and an embrace of the patient’s voice in health research so new medical products deliver outcomes that matter to them.

McMurry-Heath was the founding director of the Aspen Institute’s Health, Biomedical Science, and Society Policy Program, where she promoted personalized medicine and bolstered international preparation for pandemic disease threats. She received her early training in science policy from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and later served as Senator Joe Lieberman’s top legislative aide for science and health. In that role, she drafted legislation to protect the country from biological attacks.

McMurry-Heath received her MD/PhD from Duke’s Medical Scientist Training Program, becoming the first African-American to graduate from the prestigious program. She spent 12 years working at the research bench before taking policy and leadership roles in government and industry.

McMurry-Heath lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband Sebastian Heath, a veterinarian, and their daughter, Isabella. To relax, she enjoys yoga, snorkeling and her daughter’s sporting events.

Dr. Gary Disbrow is the Acting Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. BARDA invests in the innovation, advanced research and development, acquisition, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures – vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products needed to combat health security threats.

Dr. Disbrow joined BARDA in January of 2007 and has held a variety of positions related to the advanced development and procurement of medical countermeasures against an array of threats to national security and public health.

Prior to becoming the Acting BARDA Director, Dr. Disbrow served as Deputy Assistant Secretary (ASPR) and the Medical Countermeasures Program Director. BARDA’s medical countermeasures portfolio includes 54 products that have achieved regulatory approval, licensure or clearance.

In October 2013, Dr. Disbrow was named Acting Director of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Division and was subsequently named the Director of the Division in December of 2014. During that time, the CBRN Division built a robust pipeline of candidate products under advanced research and development. In 2014 and 2015, Dr. Disbrow was identified as the Ebola Incident Coordinator for BARDA and worked closely with the BARDA Director on funding needs, development of candidate products, and was the primary liaison for BARDA across the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE). These efforts led to the first licensed Ebola vaccine, ERBEVO licensed in December 2019.

October 2008, Dr. Disbrow began serving as the Deputy Director CBRN Division of Countermeasures in and oversaw the budget and programs for both advanced research and development and Project BioShield efforts. BARDA’s these programs have grown significantly since 2007.

Dr. Disbrow joined BARDA in January 2007 and began working on the smallpox vaccine program. Dr. Disbrow played a key role in awarding the first contract under Project BioShield using the authorities for advanced payment and milestone payments provided under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (2006). JYNNEOS was licensed in September 2019.

Prior to joining BARDA, Dr. Disbrow was an Assistant Professor of Oncology and Pathology at Georgetown Medical Center where he worked on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and therapeutics. Dr. Disbrow has previously worked at W.R. Grace, Kodak, and Genecor.

Dr. Disbrow attended the University of Rochester and Georgetown University for his undergraduate and Ph.D. respectively.