Health Law and Policy Program Alumni Advisory Council
The Health Law and Policy Alumni Advisory Council is comprised of prominent WCL alumni in the health law and policy community.
Joel L. Michaels (Chair)
J.D. 1975
Joel L. Michaels retired as a partner with the international law firm of McDermott, Will and Emery LLP where he was the partner in charge of the firm's Washington, D.C. Health Industry Advisory Group. In this role, he worked with health plans, health insurers, and health maintenance organizations on federal regulatory issues affecting health care coverage and health care delivery including the requirements under the Affordable Care Act. He has also served as an adjunct professor at AUWCL and at Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
Ebunola Aniyikaiye
J.D./M.B.A. 2017
Assistant General Counsel and Senior Director of Policy & Regulatory Affairs, Homeward
Ebunola Aniyikaiye, JD, MBA, MPP, is Assistant General Counsel and Senior Director of Policy & Regulatory Affairs at Homeward. Homeward is a technology-enabled healthcare provider delivering care to those in rural America. Ms. Aniyikaiye supports regulatory, product, and policy matters as the team seeks to remove barriers and rearthitect health care access and delivery to rural health communities. She works cross-functionally with partnerships, operations, product, policy and other teams to provide strategic and proactive legal advice on regulatory and legislative matters, product designs, and business strategies.
SArig Armenian
LL.M. 2013
Director of Compliance, Acuity Eye Group
Sarig Armenian is the Director of Compliance for Acuity Eye Group. She is an experienced healthcare compliance attorney with a demonstrated history of working in health care, government, and the private sector. She is certified in healthcare compliance (CHC) with expertise in compliance program development and management in both long-term and acute (hospital) care settings.
Joseph Beemsterboer
J.d. 2003
Vice President - Government Enforcement & Legal Investigations (Global Investigations), Walmart
Joseph Beemsterboer serves as Vice President - Government Enforcement & Legal Investigations (Global Investigations) at Walmart. In this role, he develops government enforcement strategies, including helping the retailer respond to regulatory enforcement actions from federal agencies. Prior to this, Mr. Beemsterboer spent over 12 years at the U.S. Department of Justice in its Fraud Section within the Criminal Division, most recently serving as Acting Chief.
David Berger
J.d. 1998
Senior Managing Director (Partner), Ankura
David Berger is a Senior Managing Director (Partner) at Ankura. He has over 20 years of strategic leadership experience and has served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for several life sciences companies. David has regularly advised numerous boards of directors and C-suite executives on legal, compliance, ethics and regulatory matters, both prospectively and in response to governmental actions. He has also assisted in the development of strategy and action plans with respect to governmental actions, has advised on interactions with the U.S. Congress, DOJ, FTC, FDA, and DEA, and has appeared before each of these as well.
Vanessa Burrows
J.d. 2006
Counsel, Simpson Thacher
Vanessa Burrows is Counsel at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Ms. Burrows advises pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, healthcare and technology companies, hospitals and other providers in connection with regulatory and compliance needs, as well as in connection with M&A and capital-raising transactions. She has extensive experience counseling clients with respect to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance, health privacy, security and breach issues, fraud and abuse compliance, pharmacy law, cannabis and hemp laws, and public health matters, including medical countermeasures, emergency preparedness, and quarantine and isolation.
Shawn L. Fultz
J.D. 2015
Special Projects Coordinator, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Tobacco Products
Shawn Fultz, MD, JD, MPH, works for the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), in the Office of the Center Director where he serves as the Economic and Special Projects Branch Chief. In this role, he oversees CTP's economics team, the administrative appeals staff, and staff tracking progress on strategic priorities. He also serves as a liaison between legal and scientific experts for the development of tobacco product standards and other regulations.
Jennifer Gerton
J.D. 2009
Associate Chief Counsel, Food and Drug Administration
Jennifer Gerton is Associate Chief Counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel for the Food and Drug Administration, where she specializes in issues related to generic drugs and biosimilars. In this role, she regularly interacts with scientific, regulatory, and policy staff in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).
Mary Beth Giblin
J.D. 1987
Head of LItigation, Surescripts
Mary Elizabeth (“Mary Beth”) Giblin is Head of Litigation at Surescripts, where she oversees outside counsel, develops and implements case strategy, and manages the company's response to litigation, government investigations and privileged internal investigations. She also proactively counsels business partners and the leadership team on a wide variety of issues, including antitrust-related matters, to minimize the risk of non-compliance and avoid future exposures.
Alexis Gilroy
J.D. 2002
Partner and Co-leader, Global Health Care & Life Sciences Practice, Jones Day
Alexis Gilroy is a Partner and Co-leader of the Global Health Care & Life Sciences Practice at Jones Day. She is a national leader in the digital health industry and advises on complex transactional and health regulatory issues with an emphasis on virtual health methods, such as telemedicine, telehealth, and mobile health. She frequently develops and negotiates telehealth specific services and affiliation contracts and manages health regulatory matters for M&A and equity transactions with both investor/buy-side and company/target-side experience.
SONALI GUNAWARDHANA
LL.M. 2003
Assistant General Counsel-Regulatory Law, Cardinal Health
Sonali Gunawardhana is Assistant General Counsel-Regulatory Law at Cardinal Health. In this role, Ms. Gunawardhana provides regulatory and legal support to Cardinal Health’s businesses including both pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing and distribution. She is also a judge for the Health Law and Policy Program Annual AUWCL National Health Law Writing Competition, as well as a Health Law and Policy Program Adjunct Professor.
Lindsay Holmes
LL.M. 2014
Corporate Counsel, Amazon.com, Inc.
Lindsay Holmes is a Corporate Counsel at Amazon.com, Inc. in Arlington, Virginia. She provides legal support for Amazon’s pharmacy businesses, primarily related to operations and compliance. Prior to her role with Amazon, Ms. Holmes was in private practice where her work focused on pharmacy and FDA-related counseling. She has been recognized by Chambers and Partners as an Associate to Watch in Healthcare: Pharmaceutical/Medical Products Regulatory, Washington, D.C. and serves on the American Health Law Association’s Development and Advancement Council.
John R. Jacob
J.D. 1993
Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
John R. Jacob is the leader of Akin Gump’s health law practice, and a member of its regulatory practice steering committee. Mr. Jacob represents multihospital health care systems, major academic medical centers, device manufacturers, and health technology companies. He has extensive experience in counseling, compliance, reimbursement and litigation regarding Medicare and Medicaid regulatory and policy matters.
Corrine Propas Parver
J.D. 1982
Former WCL Practitioner-in-Residence and Founder, Health Law and Policy Project
Corrine Propas Parver retired as a partner with Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky in 2004 and then launched AUWCL’s Health Law and Policy Project, Health Law Summer Institute, and Health Law and Policy Specialization for the Law and Government LL.M. Program. She is a member of the Holy Cross Health and HCH Foundation Boards and Women Lawyers on Guard. Ms. Parver received AUWCL’s Women and the Law Leadership Award in 2012.
Houeida Saad
J.D. 1992
General Counsel, URAC
Houeida Saad serves as General Counsel with URAC. In this role, she is the organization’s point person on issues involving contracts, regulatory compliance, risk assessment, and general legal support. She ensures that URAC’s over 30 accreditation products and its programming comply with federal and state law as well as the laws of the District of Columbia. She also serves as a policy expert on insurance and other health policy issues, and teaches health law as an adjunct professor of law at AUWCL.
Ann Slacter
J.D. 2012
Senior Attorney, HHS, Office of General Counsel, Public Health Divison
Ann (Annie) Slacter is a senior attorney in the Office of the General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, in the Public Health Division. She advises the Indian Health Service on a diverse range of health, contract, administrative, and Indian law and related matters. She participates in contract negotiations with Indian Tribal governments to transfer health care programs and services. More recently she has advised the agency on matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jeff Wurzburg
LL.M. 2012
Senior Counsel, Norton Rose Fulbright
Jeff J. Wurzburg is Senior Counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright, and focuses his practice on regulatory, compliance, reimbursement and policy issues facing providers and health plans, with vast experience in Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Wurzburg regularly advises clients on federal health care program reimbursement, compliance, state and federal fraud and abuse laws, and government investigations. He also works with clients on regulatory matters relating to delivery system reform, reimbursement, telehealth, licensure and COVID-19.
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