Panel 2: Post Election: What’s Changed and What Endures?

John M. O'Brien, PharmD, MPH, is the president and chief executive officer of the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC), which sponsors and participates in research on the appropriate use of pharmaceuticals and the clinical and economic value of pharmaceutical innovation. NPC’s research contributes to the scientific foundation for informed discussions about health care access, coverage, appropriate use and value. As president and chief executive officer, Dr. O'Brien is responsible for overseeing NPC’s policy research and communications capacity, partnerships with other health care organizations, and strategic vision. Dr. O’Brien’s broad experience spans the private sector, academia and government. Prior to joining NPC, Dr. O’Brien was senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and deputy assistant secretary of planning and evaluation (health policy). He has also held senior policy positions in the life sciences and managed care industries, including at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, was a career official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) during the Obama administration, and served as a health policy fellow in the U.S. Senate. Dr. O’Brien earned his doctorate in pharmacy at Nova Southeastern University, his master’s degree in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and studied pharmacy and public policy at the University of Florida. His post-graduate experience includes the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Executive Fellowship in Association Management and Leadership and the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Certified Health Insurance Executive Fellowship. He has held a number of academic appointments, including senior fellow at the USC-Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, clinical assistant professor at the Rutgers Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship program, and assistant professor of clinical and administrative sciences at the Notre Dame of Maryland University College of Pharmacy, the first program of its kind created by a U.S. women’s college. Dr. O’Brien has served on the boards of Pharmacy Quality Solutions, Kennedy Center Circles and the Congressional Chorus.

Rachel Nuzum, M.P.H., is senior vice president for Federal and State Health Policy at the Commonwealth Fund, working closely with policymakers at the state and federal level. Ms. Nuzum is responsible for developing and implementing the Fund's national policy strategy for improving health system performance, ensuring that the work of the Fund and its grantees informs the policy process in both the legislative and executive branches of state and federal government. Ms. Nuzum's work also includes fostering public–private collaboration on health system performance improvement with state and federal stakeholders and organizations. Ms. Nuzum has over 15 years of experience working in health policy at the federal, state, and local levels of government, as well as in the private sector. Before joining the Fund in January 2007, Ms. Nuzum was a legislative advisor for Senator Maria Cantwell (Wash.) on health, retirement and tax issues. Prior to joining Senator Cantwell's office, she served as a David Winston Health Policy Fellow in Senator Jeff Bingaman's (N.M.) office. In this role, Ms. Nuzum staffed the Senator on the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. Before arriving in Washington, D.C., she served former Governor Roy Romer of Colorado in the office of Boards and Commissions and worked as a health planner in west central Florida. She holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Colorado and an M.P.H. in Health Policy and Management from the University of South Florida. She is on the faculty of Georgetown University's Graduate School of Nursing and Health Professions and is on the board of the Winston Health Policy Fellowship.

Adam Colborn, JD, is the Associate Vice President of Congressional Affairs for the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) and a graduate of the American University Washington College of Law. He leads AMCP's direct federal Congressional lobbying efforts and manages its grassroots advocacy and state policy work. Since joining AMCP in March 2020, Adam led the successful effort to pass the Pre-approval Information Exchange Act—AMCP’s longstanding top federal priority—and launched AMCP’s facts and figures report, Access, Affordability, and Outcomes: The Value of Managed Care Pharmacy. Before that, Adam worked in the Public Policy Division of the Alzheimer’s Association advocating on behalf of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Adam began his policy career working on municipal transportation policy in his home state of Illinois.