Archives: Speakers

Scott is a strategic and innovative drug development executive with 30 years experience across the biopharma, CRO, and non-profit sectors.  Passionate about ensuring the patient voice is incorporated into drug development, Scott is focused on patient-focused innovations that reduce the burden of clinical trial.  With a particular focus on rare diseases, Scott has built partnerships and collaborations that have led to the acceleration of drug development for rare disease patients.  He received a Master’s Degree in Public Health in Biostatistics from the University of Utah School of Medicine and completed a Graduate Research Fellowship at The National Institutes of Health/NINDS.

Ms. Bruns is an experienced patient advocate, an influencer within the rare disease community and a former rare disease nonprofit leader. Using strategic and operational leadership, she provides synergy between Clinical Operations and Patient Advocacy with a focus on building the framework for pipeline assets. Her direct understanding of the unique needs of the rare community provide valuable insights to the innovation teams. Ms. Bruns’ dedication to supporting families and rare disease organizations ensure that patient perspective is included in all areas of drug development.

Michele Rhee is Head of Global Advocacy Relations and Patient Engagement at Savara Inc. She has nearly two decades of experience engaging with patient communities and leading patient advocacy across biopharmaceutical and nonprofit industries. Michele has built the patient advocacy function as Vice President of Patient Affairs and Advocacy at X4 Pharmaceuticals and Head of Patient Affairs at Enzyvant. Prior to her work at Enzyvant, Michele served as Global and R&D Patient Advocacy Lead at Takeda Oncology, Head of Patient Advocacy at bluebird bio, and Director of both Strategic Initiatives and Program Initiatives at the National Brain Tumor Society. In addition, Michele was appointed to the Massachusetts Rare Disease Advisory Council in 2021 and is a founding board member for Costs of Care, an organization dedicated to helping clinicians and health systems deliver better care at lower cost. Michele received her MPH from Yale School of Public Health and MBA from Yale School of Management.