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Event Details

May 14, 2024

Embassy of France
La Maison Française
4101 Reservoir Rd, NW
Washington, DC 20007

2:15 - 3:00 PM — Doors Open 
        Join us for coffee on the Patio
3:00 - 5:00 PM — Program
        Join us in the Amphitheater for keynote presentations
5:00 - 7:00 PM — Networking & Cocktails  
        Join us for networking in the Ballroom

• Security & Entrance - You will need a valid photo ID and will need to provide the name listed on the RSVP form at the security gate for entrance into the Embassy.
  
  
• Parking - Parking is not available at the Embassy. It is recommended to use an Uber, Taxi, or Lyft to be dropped off at the street entrance. You can park on the street for a fee every two hours.

2:15 - 3:00 PM:
Doors Open on Patio
3:00 - 5:00 PM:
Program in Amphitheater
5:00 - 7:00 PM: 
Networking & Cocktails in Ballroom

KEYNOTE AND PANELIST BIOS

Loyce Pace, MPH

Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs (OGA), US Department of Health & Human Services (HSS)

In her current role, Ms. Pace is responsible for advancing the U.S. international health agenda through multilateral and bilateral forums. Reporting directly to the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS), she is the Office of Global Affairs’ lead on setting priorities and policies that promote American public health agencies and interests worldwide.

Ms. Pace oversees HHS’ engagement with foreign governments and international institutions as well as policymaking bodies such as the G7, G20, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and World Health Assembly. Previously, she served as President & Executive Director of Global Health Council (GHC) and was also a member of the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. At GHC, she advocated for increased federal investments in global health, in the face of budget cuts to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, United States Agency for International Development, and World Health Organization (WHO).

Prior to her role at GHC, Ms. Pace spent over a decade working with community-based organizations and grassroots leaders in countries across Africa and Asia on campaigns calling for person-centered access to health. Additionally, she has held positions on various global and regional advisory committees and boards that focus on equity and inclusion. Ms. Pace holds a Bachelor’s degree with Honors in human biology from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in international health & human rights with the distinction of Delta Omega from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

His Excellency Laurent Bili

French Ambassador to the United States | Co-host

A graduate of the French National School of Public Administration (ENA) (Victor Hugo Year, 1989-91), Laurent Bili joined the French Foreign Ministry’s Strategic Affairs and Disarmament Directorate (1991-93).

Seconded to the Defense Ministry as Deputy Diplomatic Adviser (1993-95), he then held several positions at the Quai d’Orsay:

• First Secretary and then Second Counsellor at the Embassy of France in Ankara (1995-99),
• First Secretary, Permanent Representative of France to the Western European Union (WEU) (1998-2000).
• Adviser to the European Union’s interim Political and Security Committee (PSC) in Brussels (2000-02).
• Head of Strategic Affairs (2002).
• In 2002, he was Director of the Private Office of the Minister Delegate for European Affairs and became technical adviser at the Diplomatic Unit of the Presidency of the French Republic (2002-07).

He successively held the positions of Ambassador to Thailand (2007-09), Director of the Defense Minister’s Civilian and Military Office (2009-10), Ambassador to Turkey (2011-15) and then to Brazil (2015-17).

Laurent Bili was then Director-General for Global Affairs, Culture, Education and International Development at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and G7/G20 Sous-Sherpa (2017-2019).

Prior to his appointment in Washington, Laurent Bili was Ambassador to China since September 2019.

Alexandre Mérieux

Chairman of the Board of Directors, bioMérieux | Co-host

Alexandre Mérieux is Chairman of the Board of Directors. He joined bioMérieux in 2005 as Corporate Vice President, Industrial Microbiology. Between 2011 and 2014, he was Deputy CEO and Corporate Vice President - Microbiology Unit and Manufacturing & Supply Operations, bioMérieux. In April 2014, he took on the role of Chief Executive Officer and therefore headed the Executive Committee and on December 15, 2017 he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors. Since July 1, 2023, Alexandre Mérieux has entrusted Pierre Boulud with the Company's Chief Executive Officer role.

Since April 2004, Alexandre Mérieux has been member of the board of bioMérieux SA and, since December 2008, Vice President of the Institut Mérieux. In 2009, he became President of Mérieux Development and since September 2013, he has chaired the board of Mérieux NutriSciences. Before joining bioMérieux, from 1999 to 2004 he worked in Marketing for the Silliker Group Corporation in the U.S. and Europe and as a Marketing and Business Unit Director for Silliker in France. Alexandre Mérieux holds a degree in Biology from Lyon I University and is a graduate of HEC Montreal Business School.

Dr. Grégory Emery

General Director for Health | French Ministry of Health | Featured Speaker

Gregory Emery is currently Director General for Health for France and is responsible for preparing public health policy and contributing to its implementation through 4 main objectives: preserving and improving the health status of citizens, protecting the population from health threats, guaranteeing quality, safety and equality in access to the health system, and mobilizing and coordinating health agencies and partners.

Since 2008, his roles in the institutional health sector have enabled him to develop a cross-cutting and integrated approach to the health system. As a medical Doctor, specialized in public health and social medicine, he has made effective use of his experience in crisis management and innovation management, in particular in the field of health technologies, digital health and prevention. He has designed policies based on the "One Health" concept which aims at adopting a systemic, multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach to address complex health issues.

Ella Balasa

AMR Survivor, WHO Ambassador for AMR | Patient Spotlight

With a background in biology and firsthand experience as both a patient and a scientist, Ella is deeply committed to amplifying the patient voice in healthcare. Her journey has led her to bridge the gap between research and patient advocacy, particularly focusing on antibiotic-resistant infections prevalent in conditions like cystic fibrosis. Through her own battle with CF-related infections and involvement in experimental treatments like phage therapy, Ella has become a vocal advocate for patient-centric approaches in medical research and treatment development. By sharing her experiences through writing, public speaking engagements, and participation in committees and advisory roles, she aims to raise awareness about the urgent need for novel therapies and foster collaboration between patients, healthcare companies, researchers, and regulatory bodies. Ella's efforts have been recognized through various awards and speaking engagements, and she continues to strive for advancements in medical progress that prioritize the patient experience.

Joel E. Mortensen, Ph.D.  

Director, Diagnostic Infectious Diseases Testing Laboratories I Associate Director of Clinical Laboratories | Cincinnati Children’s Hospital 

Dr. Mortensen is a career academic clinical microbiologist in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical School, University of Cincinnati. Beyond providing consultation to the medical staff in clinical microbiology, his clinical interests include the application of molecular testing methods into the clinical microbiology laboratory and outpatient settings and integrating clinical microbiology into patient care through Antimicrobial Stewardship and Test Utilization. He also spends time in Guinea West Africa working to develop laboratory capacity at the first pediatric hospital in the country.

• BS: Mount Union College, Alliance, OH
• PhD: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
• Post-doctoral Fellowship: Medical and Public Health Microbiology; Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX
• High Complexity Laboratory Director (AAB), Certified Laboratory Consultant (AMT), MLT (AMT), SM (NCRM), Allied Health Instructor (AMT)
• Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology

Patrick F. McDermott, MS, PhD, DAAM  

Senior Science Advisor for Antimicrobial Resistance at the US Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine I Acting Senior Science Advisor at the Office of Global Affairs in HHS

Dr. Patrick McDermott is the Senior Science Advisor for Antimicrobial Resistance at the US Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine. He is currently on temporary assignment as Acting Senior Science Advisor at the Office of Global Affairs in HHS. From 2008-2023, Dr. McDermott served as Director of the US National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, a One Health collaborative program of the FDA, USDA, and CDC to track resistance in the food supply. Dr. McDermott has worked for over 30 years in the field of antimicrobial resistance. He has published over 170 peer reviewed research articles, book chapters and reviews. He represents FDA on various groups committed to combating antimicrobial resistance, including the Transatlantic Task Force on AMR and the Quadripartite Technical Group on Integrated Surveillance, and the Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antimicrobial Resistance Bacteria. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. 

Dr. Charles K. Cooper 

Executive Vice President Medical Affairs I Chief Medical Officer | bioMérieux

As the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs for bioMérieux, Dr. Cooper serves as its lead clinical and policy spokesperson on all aspects of clinical
diagnostic medicine.
 
Dr. Cooper is a graduate from Georgetown University School of Medicine (Washington, DC) and specializes in infectious diseases and epidemiology (University of Maryland, Baltimore). He has been practicing medicine for over 25 years and still devotes two days a month to this work. He was previously Chief Medical Officer at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. Prior to that he was head of the Global Medical Affairs department at Becton Dickinson Diagnostics, and also spent 13 years with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

John H. Rex, MD, FACP  

Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. I Operating Partner, Advent Life Sciences I Adjunct Professor of Medicine, McGovern Medical School

Dr. Rex is a physician and drug developer with more than 35 years of development and policy experience focused on antimicrobial agents. He is currently CMO for F2G, Ltd. (an antifungal biotech), is an operating partner with a venture capital group (Advent Life Sciences), is Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the $1b AMR Action Fund, and was (2015-2019) a voting member on the US Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB). He also blogs regularly at http://amr.solutions/blog.html. 

His experience includes moving compounds from preclinical development through all development phases via academic positions (NIH, Bethesda, MD; McGovern Medical School-Houston) and VP-level roles at a multinational pharmaceutical firm (AstraZeneca). Other past activities include advancing novel regulatory paradigms for antibacterials, publications on novel reimbursement models for antibiotics, co-founding of a public-private partnership (CARB-X), co-founding the New Drugs for Bad Bugs (ND4BB) program of Europe’s Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), and a 4-year term as Industry Representative on the FDA Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee (AIDAC, 2007–2011). 

Amy Mathers, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the University of Virginia | Clinical Director of the Adult Antimicrobial Stewardship Program | Director for Clinical Microbiology Sequencing and Associate | Director of Clinical Microbiology for the University of Virginia Medical Center

Amy Mathers, is a Tenured Associate Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the University of Virginia.  She is a practicing ID physician and Clinical Director of the Adult Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and is Associate Director of Clinical Microbiology for the University of Virginia Medical Center. She has an active research portfolio focused on detecting relevant resistance and applying pathogen genomics to track antimicrobial resistance in both public health and clinical settings. 

Marie-Claire Rowlinson, Ph.D., D (ABMM)  

Bureau Chief, Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Public Health Laboratories

Dr. Marie-Claire Rowlinson is Bureau Chief for the Florida Bureau of Public Health Laboratories, overseeing 300+ staff across three laboratories in the state. Dr. Rowlinson directs clinical diagnostics, disease surveillance, and newborn screening programs and ensures regulatory compliance for clinical diagnostic testing. In her previous role as Chief of Bacterial Diseases at New York State Public Health Laboratory, she provided oversight of antimicrobial testing as a regional laboratory serving the CDC's AR Lab Network. A 12+ year leader in global health, infectious diseases, and molecular diagnostics, she is a recognized expert on national committees, and contributes to key publications in clinical microbiology.

Jomana Musmar, MS, PhD 

Executive Director and Designated Federal Officer for the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB), Senior Public Health Advisor within the Office of Infectious Diseases and HIV/AIDs Policy (OIDP), within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Executive Director and Designated Federal Officer for the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB). She also serves as a Senior Public Health Advisor within the Office of Infectious Diseases and HIV/AIDs Policy (OIDP), within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Dr. Musmar first joined OASH in 2015 to help establish the PACCARB and has been managing the council ever since; to date, the PACCARB has successfully held 25 public meetings and issued 12 reports with recommendations to the Secretary of HHS. She has over 15 years of professional experience managing federal advisory committees, including subject matter expertise within the interdisciplinary fields of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) biodefense, public health security, and health policy at grassroots, national, and international levels. Dr. Musmar holds a Master’s of Science in Biomedical Science Policy from Georgetown University and a Doctorate in Biodefense with a concentration in International and Homeland Security from George Mason University.  She is also fluent in written and spoken Arabic.  

Jason M. Pogue, PharmD, FIDP, FCCP 

Clinical Professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and an Infectious Diseases Clinical Pharmacist at Michigan Medicine 

Dr. Jason Pogue is a clinical professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and an Infectious Diseases Clinical Pharmacist at Michigan Medicine. Prior to this position he spent just over a decade at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) as an Infectious Diseases Clinical Pharmacist at Sinai-Grace Hospital and as the co-chair of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee at the DMC.  

 Dr. Pogue received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Gannon University, before obtaining his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He then completed a PGY-1 pharmacy residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center followed by an infectious diseases PGY-2 residency at the University of Michigan Health Systems. His research interests focus on epidemiology and management of multi-drug resistant Gram-negative organisms and antimicrobial stewardship.  

 Dr. Pogue is a recognized leader in Gram-negative resistance and antimicrobial stewardship as evidenced by his significant contribution of over 125 peer-reviewed articles, over 125 abstracts, multiple book chapters, and presentations at numerous national and international conferences. Dr. Pogue has served as clinical pharmacy lead for multiple NIH funded studies addressing optimal use of polymyxins for extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Gram-negative pathogens. He currently serves as the co-lead investigator for the PRECEDENT network, a consortium of over 30 hospitals in the United States focused on performing real-world, comparative effectiveness studies of novel antimicrobial agents for the treatment of resistant Gram-negative pathogens. Dr. Pogue is a past president of the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) and currently serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of The United States Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (USCAST).