Dr. Amy M. Miller Takes the Helm of the PhRMA Foundation
August 30, 2021The Foundation also welcomes Fiona H. Marshall, PhD, FMedSci FRS, to the Board of Directors.
The PhRMA Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to name Amy M. Miller, PhD as the new President of the Foundation. Dr. Miller succeeds Eileen Cannon, who is retiring after 22 years of dedicated service in support of the Foundation’s efforts to invest in innovative research, education, and value-driven health care.
In addition, the PhRMA Foundation welcomes Fiona H. Marshall, PhD FMedSci FRS, to the Board of Directors. Dr. Marshall will be the second woman to serve on the current Foundation Board.
The Board of Directors unanimously selected Dr. Miller after an extensive search to replace the outgoing Cannon. Throughout her career, Dr. Miller has demonstrated success in nonprofit leadership. She also acted as a trusted leader and consensus builder among health stakeholders, particularly in precision medicine regulatory issues and in health outcomes and value assessment research.
“Amy’s decades of leadership experience across the healthcare ecosystem and her unparalleled background in research with the objective of improving patient care through science and education makes her the perfect person to lead our efforts to support research that is key to the industry’s future,” said Alfred Sandrock, MD, PhD, Chair of the PhRMA Foundation’s Board of Directors and Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Biogen. “She has established trusted relationships with stakeholders in the field and will be a tremendous asset to the Foundation.”
“I have made my career in innovative areas of the healthcare sector and look forward to building on the Foundation’s strong research base to forge an impactful next chapter for this incredible nonprofit”, said Dr. Miller. “I am particularly inspired by the Foundation’s ongoing efforts to support the work of early-career scientists – during especially critical times for many who are just gaining academic independence in their respective fields. I look forward to continuing this vital work, while expanding the Foundation’s more recent focus on value assessment and health economics research; all of which will support a creative and strong research and development infrastructure for the pharmaceutical industry.”
Dr. Miller brings to the Foundation nearly 20 years of nonprofit leadership and science-based policy experience. She was most recently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) where she oversaw a strategic evolution of the legendary organization.
Prior to SWHR, Dr. Miller served as Executive Vice President of the Personalized Medicine Coalition where she worked with all stakeholders in the field to support investment in and adoption of personalized medicine through education, advocacy, and evidence development. She started her career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and served in the U.S. Senate as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow (AAAS) Legislative Fellow. She holds both a PhD and MA from the University of Connecticut, and a BA from the University of New Orleans.
Outgoing President Eileen Cannon led the Foundation since 1999 and oversaw its transformation into a $100 million grant-making institution and, more recently, its expansion into the field of value assessment.
“Over the course of my tenure with the Foundation, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to work with so many wonderful people: the Board, our advisory committee members, my staff, colleagues, and the hundreds of budding scientists and researchers whose careers I have been privileged to watch transform as they have brought promising innovative research concepts to the Foundation’s various initiatives.” said Eileen Cannon. “I am looking forward to seeing Amy’s passion and experience lead us closer to inclusive, patient-centered and equitable health care. I wish her all the best as she embarks on a new chapter for the Foundation.”
“For more than two decades, Eileen has guided the Foundation to a new revitalized place with a robust value assessment component that contributors greatly value while continuing to modernize the organization’s approach to its original core areas of supporting early-career scientists – more than 900 in total. She will be greatly missed,” said Rich Moscicki, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of PhRMA’s Scientific Regulatory and Advocacy Department, and a PhRMA Foundation Board Member.
The Foundation is also excited to welcome Fiona H. Marshall, PhD to the Board of Directors.
Dr. Marshall is Senior Vice President of Discovery Sciences, Preclinical development and Translational Medicine at Merck. Previously, she served as Founder and Chief Scientific officer of Heptares (now Sosei-Heptares) a highly successful UK biotechnology company focused on structure- guided drug design of small molecules, peptides and antibody therapeutics to G protein-coupled receptors, during which she became well known for her seminal work in this field. She won the 2012 WISE Women of Outstanding Achievement for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the 2015 RSC Malcolm Campbell Award for chemistry. She is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences, Honorary Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 2021 she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. Dr. Marshall holds a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Bath and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge.