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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES Cynthia Bens Vice President, Public Policy Alliance for Aging Research Cynthia Bens is the Vice President of Public Policy at the non-profit Alliance for Aging Research in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, she is responsible for guiding the organization’s federal policy work, representing the Alliance in multiple national coalitions, and directing all aspects of the Accelerate Cure/Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease (ACT-AD) and Aging in Motion (AIM) coalitions. For the past 12 years Cynthia has worked to inform federal policymakers and educate the public on a variety of issues. For more than half of that time her efforts have centered on the formulation of policies to expedite the development of interventions to treat and prevent many debilitating age-related disease; to remove access barriers to needed treatments and therapies; and to improve the coordination and quality of care seniors receive. Ms. Bens is a Founding Executive Committee Member of Friends of the National Institute on Aging (FoNIA). She has served on the Steering Committee of the Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) since 2008 and is the sole patient adviser to the FDA Subcommittee of BIOCOM, the largest regional life science association in the world. Ms. Bens currently serves on the Alliance for a Stronger FDA's Board of Directors. Prior to joining the Alliance in 2006, she was a senior manager of government affairs with the Loeffler Group. Cynthia holds a B.A. degree from New York University with a concentration in Political Science and Women’s Studies. Amanda Jezek Vice President, Public Policy & Government Relations Infectious Diseases Society of America Amanda Jezek is currently the Vice President for Public Policy and Government Relations at the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), which represents over 10,000 ID physicians and scientists. Amanda oversees IDSA’s public policy and government relations department, with responsibility for policy development and advocacy on IDSA priority issues, including antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial and diagnostics development, immunizations, preparedness, federal funding, and other issues relating to public health and research. Amanda has been with IDSA since 2011, previously serving as IDSA’s Government Relations Director. Prior to joining IDSA, Amanda was the Deputy Director for Federal Affairs at the March of Dimes Foundation. In this capacity, Amanda led the March of Dimes’ policy development and lobbying efforts on all issues related to access to healthcare for women of childbearing age, infants, and children, including the Foundation’s work on the Affordable Care Act. Amanda also lobbied for Mental Health America, and worked as a legislative assistant and press secretary for U.S. Representative Grace Napolitano (D-CA). Amanda holds a B.A. in Political Science from Dartmouth College. Christian John Lillis Co-founder & Executive Director The Peggy Lillis Memorial Foundation Peggy’s elder son, Christian has more than a decade of experience in nonprofit management. He has an eclectic background as both “behind-the-scenes” strategist and frontline fundraiser. Christian is currently managing director of research & prospect development at Teach For America, where he leads prospect development and analysis efforts. He was previously director of development at In The Life Media, a nonprofit that produces educational media for television and online audiences. Christian has also served as director of major gifts for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and as associate director of development research for NYU Langone Medical Center. He is a past board member of the Greater New York Chapter of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement and the City University of New York’s Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies. Christian holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Brooklyn College. Ramanan Laxminarayan Director and Senior Fellow Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy Ramanan Laxminarayan directs the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy. He is also a Research Scholar and Lecturer at Princeton University. His research deals with the integration of epidemiological models of infectious diseases and drug resistance into the economic analysis of public health problems. He has worked to improve understanding of drug resistance as a problem of managing a shared global resource. Laxminarayan has worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank on evaluating malaria treatment policy, vaccination strategies, the economic burden of tuberculosis, and control of non-communicable diseases. He has served on a number of advisory committees at WHO, Centers for Disease Control and, Prevention, and the Institute of Medicine. In 200304, he served on the National Academy of Science/Institute of Medicine Committee on the Economics of Antimalarial Drugs and subsequently helped create the Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria, a novel financing mechanism for antimalarials. His work has been covered in major media outlets including Associated Press, BBC, CNN, the Economist, LA Times, NBC, NPR, Reuters, Science, Wall Street Journal, and National Journal. Susan Peschin, MHS President & CEO Alliance for Aging Research Susan Peschin is President& CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research. As the leader of the Executive Team, Ms. Peschin is responsible for successful execution of the current strategic plan, and for assuring operational excellence, fiscal health and growth of the organization. Ms. Peschin has more than 20 years of experience in managing policy and government relations. Prior to her current role, Ms. Peschin was Vice President of Public Policy for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) where she successfully advocated for passage of health reform provisions for individuals with dementia and family caregivers, including the “detection of any cognitive impairment” provision in the new annual Medicare wellness visit; nursing home transparency; and the Independence at Home Act demonstration program. While at AFA, Ms. Peschin also achieved a doubling of appropriations for the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program, co-facilitated the Leaders Engaged in Alzheimer’s Disease coalition, and served as an advisor on the “Caregiver Initiative” included in the 2010 annual report for the Middle Class Task Force, chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. Ms. Peschin has published studies on cognitive screening; federal funding at the National Institute on Aging; and policy recommendations for implementation of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act. Previous to her work at AFA, Ms. Peschin ran her own consulting business, offering lobby day training and strategic planning services. She also worked for more than 10 years in firearms violence prevention, at the Violence Policy Center and Consumer Federation of America, and she continues to serve as a Board member of CeaseFire Maryland. Ms. Peschin also currently serves as a Board member for the American Aging Association; as a Steering Committee member for the Coalition for Imaging & Bioengineering Research; and as a member of the Expert Panel on Respite Research convened by the Lifespan Respite TA Center at the ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center in collaboration with the Administration for Community Living/Administration on Aging. Ashley Predith, PhD Assistant Executive Director, President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Ashley Predith is the Assistant Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The Council advises the President on topics across all fields of science and technology and regularly issues reports on areas of critical national interest. Before joining the White House Office of Science and Technology, Dr. Predith was the Associate Director for Programs at a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC). Led by the University of Maryland in collaboration with two national labs and three universities, the EFRC investigates fundamental nanoscience to underpin next generation energy storage technologies. Dr. Predith previously was a science policy consultant for the Science & Engineering Workforce Project at the National Bureau of Economic Research and for the American Chemical Society. Ashley Predith has a PhD in Materials Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Arjun Srinivasan, MD (CAPT, USPHS) Associate Director for Healthcare Associated Infection Prevention Programs Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Arjun Srinivasan is the Associate Director for Healthcare Associated Infection Prevention Programs in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Srinivasan is also a captain in the US Public Health Service. An infectious disease doctor, Dr. Srinivasan oversees several CDC programs aimed at eliminating healthcare-associated infections and improving antibiotic use. For much of his CDC career, Dr. Srinivasan ran the healthcare outbreak investigation unit, helping hospitals and other healthcare facilities track down bacteria and stop them from infecting other patients. Today, Dr. Srinivasan leads CDC’s work to improve antibiotic prescribing and works with a team of CDC experts researching new strategies to eliminate healthcare-associated infections. As an assistant professor of medicine in the Infectious Diseases Division at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a staff physician, Dr. Srinivasan founded the Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Management Program. He carried his passion for combatting antibiotic resistance to CDC where he leads the “Get Smart” program that teaches patients and clinicians alike what they need to know to ensure antibiotics are used appropriately. The program aims to forestall a future in which microbes resist antibiotic treatment. A graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Dr. Srinivasan is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. He completed an internal medicine residency and infectious disease fellowship at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Dr. Srinivasan is an adjunct assistant professor of medicine at Emory University Medical Center and sees patients at the Atlanta Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Srinivasan has authored numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals on his research in healthcare epidemiology, infection control, and antibiotic Use and resistance. He is a member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. He has been named to the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars and his landmark work in infection control led the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America to honor him with the 2008 Investigator Award.