The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association named Pfizer chief medical officer Freda Lewis-Hall, MD its Woman of the Year for 2011.
Dr. Lewis-Hall, said HBA president Deborah Coogan Seltzer, “sets the tone for all of us with her unique abilities as a talented physician and leader. She has a longstanding commitment to the social responsibilities of healthcare leadership – especially in making sure that people have the education and understanding to make the best healthcare decisions.”
Lewis-Hall has personally mentored more than a hundred women over the course of her career, and has a strong record of patient advocacy, particularly around mental illness, said HBA. She has also been a vocal advocate for overcoming cultural barriers to care and eliminating healthcare disparities, having worked with members of the Health Brain Trust of the Congressional Black Caucus on those topics.
Last year, Lewis-Hall was named one of the inaugural members of the Board of Governors for the new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. She also serves on a number of boards, including the Society for the Advancement of Women’s Health Research, the Foundation of the National Institutes of Health and the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School.
“Freda defines what it is to be a leader in today’s rapidly changing healthcare industry,” said Pfizer president and CEO Ian Read, adding that she “is intensely engaged in critical policy dialog in the interest of better patient outcomes. We are fortunate to have her as our top physician ensuring the quality, safety and effective use of Pfizer medicines.”
