Walk the talk

June 26, 2020
Happy Friday. Today, we want to introduce you to our new colleague who will be driving D&I efforts. We’ve also got a must-read op-ed from a BIO Board member on telehealth and mental health care during the pandemic. Here around 730 words, just under 4 minutes.
BIO

Happy Friday. Today, we want to introduce you to our new colleague who will be driving D&I efforts. We’ve also got a must-read op-ed from a BIO Board member on telehealth and mental health care during the pandemic. Here around 730 words, just under 4 minutes.

Walk the talk

At BIO, we’ve been working to “walk the talk” on diversity and inclusion—because it’s critically important our industry is representative of the patients we serve. As part of that effort, we recently hired a new Director of Diversity & Inclusion, who will drive our initiatives to improve D&I and, importantly, improve access to health care and to science. 

Meet Elliott Francis. As BIO’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion, he provides leadership and drives change through the development and implementation of strategic D&I initiatives both within BIO and for the broader industry.

Before joining BIO in April, he worked at U.S. Treasury and the National Science Foundation and has a long track record in human capital and workforce planning with D&I in mind.

And he has an inspiring personal story.Watch as he talks about being raised by a mother in Harlem who was determined to get the best education for her children:

Meet Elliott Francis

These lived experiences combined with his passion for developing effective strategies to create inclusive corporate cultures make him uniquely positioned to lead BIO’s D&I initiatives and move the industry forward. 

This announcement comes on the heels of BIO Digital, where we shined a light on systemic racism in the health care system and society, and how we as an industry can work to improve diversity and inclusion in biotech leadership and in clinical trials.  

If you missed it, watch the sessions highlighting these issues, including our panel on equity, diversity, and inclusion featuring Cerevel’s Dr. Tony Coles and Global Blood Therapeutics’ Dr. Ted Love, as well as Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath’s chat with NIH’s Dr. Anthony Fauci, which touched on the impact of COVID-19 on African Americans.

And we’re taking every opportunity to highlight D&I issues in biotech. Yesterday, for example, Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath joined an Eli Lilly webinar to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on minority communities as well as issues like diversity in clinical trials, attracting people of color to the biotech industry, and creating more opportunities for women and minority businesses in our supply chains with 150+ patient advocates and policy leaders.

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Why it matters: COVID-19 cases are sharply rising—and so is the evidence that the disease disproportionately affects the African American community. As we’re developing vaccines, treatments, and cures for this disease, and many others, it’s critically important that the biotech industry is representative of the patients we’re trying to serve.  

Want to know more about what you can do right now to improve D&I in your company? Visit www.rightmixmatters.org, BIO’s campaign to provide specific tools to accelerate gender, racial, ethnic and LGBTQ representation on biotech company boards, in C-suites and in functional leadership positions.

 

 
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Must-read: moving from crisis to lasting change

Before we head out for the weekend, we want to highlight a recent op-ed by BIO Board Member Richard Pops, Chairman and CEO of Alkermes, on how COVID-19 has created an opportunity to modernize health care, and specifically mental health care, thanks to telehealth.

What he says: “Our industry has an opportunity—an obligation really—to harness and improve upon the efforts made over the last few months to formalize a new operating model utilizing all of the clinical, digital, and pharmacological tools at our disposal to raise the standard of care for people well into the future.”

Specifically: “True patient-centered care takes a comprehensive/holistic approach, including consideration of the appropriate medicine for the patient and accounting for the psychological, environmental, and behavioral factors that affect outcomes. This is where telemedicine, specifically telepsychiatry, can play a role.” 

And while there are challenges, telemedicine and “telepsychiatry can open a world of possibilities for patients,” he continues. 

Read the whole thing at Life Science Leader.

 

More Health Care News: 

Reuters: Gilead's remdesivir set to become Europe's first COVID-19 therapy
“The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday its human medicines committee (CHMP) recommended conditionally approving the drug for adults and adolescents from 12 years of age who are also suffering from pneumonia and require oxygen support.”

 
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President Trump’s Friday: Yesterday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act. Today, he’s meeting with the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, then heading to his golf club in New Jersey.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: The House is expected to pass a D.C. statehood bill today, but Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will not bring it up for a vote and the Trump administration opposes it.

 
 
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