Rebekah Gee, MD
Chief Executive Officer of Health Care Services,
LSU Health
Dr. Rebekah Gee is an Obstetrician/Gynecologist and CEO of Health Care Services for LSU Health. She is the former Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, the state’s largest agency with a budget of $14 billion. Her oversight responsibilities included public health and other direct service programs for citizens in need such as behavioral health, developmental disabilities, aging and adult services, emergency preparedness, and the Medicaid program.
Under Dr. Gee’s leadership, over 500,000 Louisianans became newly insured under Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion, and for the first time, many started receiving much needed primary and preventive health care. Her Medicaid expansion work also resulted in the launch of a dashboard to measure access to healthcare services, which has become a national model used in other states. She has been a national leader in tackling pharmaceutical pricing, including spearheading an innovative effort to eliminate hepatitis C in Louisiana by negotiating with manufacturers on a subscription model for drug access.
Dr. Gee has also led national discussions on maternal mortality and established one of the first state-run perinatal quality collaboratives focusing on maternal mortality. As a result of her efforts, complications due to heavy bleeding—the leading preventable cause of maternal death, have been reduced by 32% in the past two years. Because of her efforts, from 2016 to 2019 the state saw a 32% drop in the severe health consequences of bleeding in moms who are giving birth.
Dr. Gee is an obstetrician/gynecologist and brings a caregiver’s perspective to the people she serves. In addition, she is a trained policy expert who has served in numerous state and national policy roles. Prior to her role as Secretary, she served as the director for the Birth Outcomes Initiative. Her work on birth outcomes led the charge to decrease infant mortality and prematurity statewide – this resulted in a 25 percent reduction in infant mortality; an 85 percent drop in elective deliveries before 39 weeks; and a 10% drop in NICU admissions statewide. In 2017 Dr. Gee was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.
She is the mother of five energetic children and lives in New Orleans, where she continues to see patients.
John Maraganore, PhD
Chief Executive Officer,
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Since 2002, Dr. John Maraganore has served as the CEO and a Director of Alnylam.
Prior to Alnylam, Dr. Maraganore served as an officer and a member of the management team for Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. As Senior Vice President, Strategic Product Development for Millennium, he was responsible for the company’s product franchises in oncology, and cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases.
He was previously Vice President, Strategic Planning and M&A and, prior to that, he was General Manager of Millennium BioTherapeutics, Inc., a former subsidiary of Millennium. Before Millennium he served as Director of Molecular Biology and Director of Market and Business Development at Biogen, Inc. At Biogen, Dr. Maraganore invented and led the discovery and development of ANGIOMAX® (bivalirudin) for injection, formerly HIRULOGTM and currently marketed by The Medicines Company. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Maraganore was a scientist at ZymoGenetics, Inc., and the Upjohn Company.
Dr. Maraganore received his Master of Science and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago. He is a member of the Board for Agios Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Board and is a member of the BIO Executive Committee.
Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD, MBA
President and Chief Executive Officer,
DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement and Catalyst Institute
Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan is President and CEO for the DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement and Catalyst Institute. In this role, she oversees the DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement and Impact Group, leading research and grantmaking activities focused on improving oral health, integrating oral health and overall health through medical/dental collaborations, moving toward a value-based payment model, and guiding a growing research and data portfolio.
Myechia joined DentaQuest in 2019 after twelve years at the Roxbury, Mass.-based Dimock Center. Considered a national model for comprehensive health and human services, Dimock focuses on the integration of clinical and behavioral health and is the second largest health center in the Boston area. As CEO, Myechia formed partnerships with world-class institutions, including Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Partners HealthCare to advance person-centered care. Before that, Myechia served as Chief Medical Officer and successfully led transformative efforts including the switch to an electronic medical record system, establishing an Institutional Review Board, and earning a $4.9 million federal grant to become a designated primary medical home.
Prior to Dimock, Myechia worked for Johns Hopkins Medicine as an attending physician and instructor of medicine. She graduated from Brown University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business and received honorary doctorates from Northeastern University and Newbury College.
Myechia serves on several boards and committees that include the Yawkey Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. In the past, she has served on several boards and committees that include appointed positions within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Boston including MA Health Planning Council Advisory Committee, the Boston Public Health Commission, and RIZE Massachusetts where she focused on combating the opioid epidemic.