DIA is honored to have two such esteemed and dedicated leaders, who bring both the industry and the regulatory perspective, lending their extensive knowledge and insight to our milestone 50th Annual Meeting.
Horsham, PA (PRWEB) November 06, 2013
DIA today announced that two worldwide leaders in the pharmaceutical and medical product development will co-chair the DIA 2014 50th Annual Meeting June 15-19 at the San Diego Convention Center.
Freda C. Lewis-Hall, M.D., chief medical officer and executive vice president of Pfizer Inc., and Rear Adm. (ret) Sandra L. Kweder, M.D., deputy director of the Office of New Drugs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, will bring their renowned expertise to strengthen collaboration and advance therapeutic innovation at the meeting.
“Drs. Kweder and Lewis-Hall have dedicated their careers to advancing science and improving health care,” said Barbara Lopez Kunz, DIA’s global chief executive. “DIA is honored to have two such esteemed and dedicated leaders, who bring both the industry and the regulatory perspective, lending their extensive knowledge and insight to our milestone 50th Annual Meeting.”
Lewis-Hall leads Pfizer Medical, the division devoted to ensuring the safe, effective and appropriate use of every Pfizer product across the world. Prior to joining Pfizer, Lewis-Hall was a leader in medical affairs and biomedical product development with Vertex, Pharmacia, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Eli Lilly and Company. She also held leadership, clinical, and research positions at the National Institute of Mental Health and the Howard University Hospital and College of Medicine. In 2010, Lewis-Hall was appointed to the inaugural board of governors for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), which directs a range of research programs to improve the nation’s quality of health care. In 2011, she was named “Woman of the Year” by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association. Lewis-Hall received a bachelor’s degree from The Johns Hopkins University and a medical doctorate from the Howard University College of Medicine.
Kweder’s distinguished career has spanned decades in public service and medical advancements. Commissioned into the U.S. Public Health Service in 1980 by the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, she completed her residency at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and fellowship in Obstetric Medicine at Brown University. Her career at FDA began in the Division of Antiviral Drugs to help spearhead the emergent field of HIV drug development. Kweder went on to serve in leadership roles in Postmarketing Surveillance and Epidemiology and the Office of Antimicrobial Products, until she became the deputy director of the Office of New Drugs in 2002. In this position, she oversees the full range of drug and therapeutic biologics, both marketed and in development, as well as special programs such as Pediatrics and Maternal Health, the development of Patient Reported Outcome tools and their qualification as endpoints for clinical trials.
For more information, please go to http://www.diahome.org. To arrange an interview with the co-chairs or to request a headshot or complete biography, please contact Eric Rosen at 215.290.9153 or eric(dot)rosen(at)diahome(dot)org.
ABOUT DIA: DIA is a neutral, global, professional and member-driven association of nearly 18,000 professionals involved in the discovery, development and life cycle management of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and related health care products. Through our international educational offerings and myriad networking opportunities, DIA provides a global forum for knowledge exchange that fosters the innovation of products, technologies and services to improve health and well-being worldwide. Headquarters are in Horsham, Pa., USA, with offices in Basel, Switzerland; Tokyo, Japan; Mumbai, India; Beijing, China; Washington, D.C.; and Latin America. Visit our website at http://www.diahome.org and follow DIA at: LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, and Pinterest.
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