12/08/2020

WASHINGTON, DC 

At its annual membership meeting today, which was the culmination of a year-long celebration of the organization’s 100th Anniversary, the National Health Council (NHC) elected its officers and new members of the Board of Directors for 2021. Diana Gray, MA, President & Chief Executive Officer, Hydrocephalus Association, is the Chairperson of the NHC Board of Directors for 2021. Other members of the 2021 Executive Committee are: Chair-Elect LaVarne Burton, President & Chief Executive Officer, American Kidney Fund; Vice Chair Stevan Gibson, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lupus Foundation of America; Secretary Matt Eyles, President & Chief Executive Officer, America’s Health Insurance Plans; Treasurer Lisa Simpson, M.B., B.Ch., M.P.H., FAAP, President & Chief Executive Officer, AcademyHealth; and Immediate Past Chairperson Ann Palmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Arthritis Foundation. 

“Diana will be a stellar leader in 2021, helping the NHC and our members to look forward with hope after a year of many challenges,” said Eleanor M. Perfetto, PhD, MS, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. “Her guidance, in addition to the range of organizations represented by our new and returning Board members, will aid the NHC in welcoming a new Chief Executive Officer and creating a new strategic plan in the coming year.” 

One new member is joining the 2021 NHC Board of Directors: Kenneth Mendez, Chief Executive Officer & President, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Board members re-elected for a new term include: Tracey Brown, Chief Executive Officer, American Diabetes Association; Burton; Gibson; Gray; Harold Wimmer, National President & Chief Executive Officer, American Lung Association; Simpson; Stephen Ubl, President & Chief Executive Officer, PhRMA; and Rod MacKenzie, PhD, Chief Development Officer, Pfizer. 

These new and re-elected members join current Board members: Nancy Brown, Chief Executive Officer, American Heart Association; Tanisha Carino, PhD, Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Eyles; 

Patricia Furlong, Founding President & CEO, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy; Paul Gionfriddo, President & Chief Executive Officer, Mental Health America; Cassandra McCullough, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Association of Black Cardiologists; Michelle McMurry-Heath, MD, PhD, President & Chief Executive Officer, BIO; Steve Miller, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Cigna; Palmer; Gary A. Puckrein, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Minority Quality Forum; Gary M. Reedy, Chief Executive Officer, American Cancer Society; and Susan Sherman, Chief Executive Officer, The LAM Foundation. 

In addition, the NHC would like to thank Steven Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, Sjögren’s Foundation, who is leaving the Board, for his service. His contributions are much appreciated.