DIA and the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) today announced a new collaboration to advance the careers of women involved in the regulatory, medical, legal and compliance functions of health care. The associations will embark on a multi-year initiative called the DIA/HBA Leadership Project, which was launched in June at the 2012 DIA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.
A steering committee of senior women representing pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies will lead this unique initiative.
The steering committee will develop a plan for:
- building a community of like-minded professionals who will share insights into how to nurture and inspire leadership;
- creating and implementing a skill-building road map for success; and
- shaping the direction of women’s initiatives currently underway, or being developed , to support the regulatory, medical, legal and compliance functions.
“Women involved in the regulatory, medical, legal and compliance functions of health care can positively enhance an organization’s reputation, value diversity while stimulating innovation and maximizing the effectiveness of their commercial operations,” asserts Ilyssa Levins, president of the Center for Communication Compliance (CCC). “For this reason, we must accelerate the growth of their leadership skills and increase their impact on the changing business and regulatory environments.” Levins co-chairs the project with DIA President-elect Minnie Baylor-Henry VP of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices and Diagnostics.
According to Baylor-Henry, “This initiative will build portable and visible skills that go beyond mere technical expertise. It will also establish women in regulatory, medical, legal and compliance as strategic business partners within an organization. Both are practical goals designed to benefit current and future leaders.”
More than 125 women attended the inaugural event to hear a panel of female leaders share their thoughts on the state of women’s leadership today and to learn more about the project’s vision. Panelists included Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall, EVP, chief medical officer at Pfizer and the 2011 HBA Woman of the Year; RADM Sandra Kweder, MD, deputy director of the Office of New Drugs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and DIA board member; and Tracy Rockney, JD, divisional VP of RA at Abbott Pharmaceutical Products Division.
About DIA
DIA is a neutral, global, professional, member-driven association of nearly 18,000 professionals involved in the discovery, development and life cycle management of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and related medical 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 and Beijing, China. www.diahome.org.
Contact: Joe Krasowski
+1.215.293.5812
Joe.Krasowski@diahome.org