Dr. Distlerath is a health care industry executive who brings over three decades of experience in the global biopharmaceutical sector, with deep expertise in public policy, public affairs, and strategic alliances, especially in China, India, and other emerging markets. She most recently led Global External Communications for Takeda Pharmaceutical Company headquartered in Japan, and served as the Deputy Vice President of Advocacy and Strategic Alliances for the Pharmaceutical and Research Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Previously, Dr. Distlerath was Senior Vice President and head of the global health practice at APCO Worldwide, Vice President of Corporate Public Affairs and Global Health Policy at Merck & Co., Inc., and President of the Merck Company Foundation.
Dr. Distlerath is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, co-chair of the Board of Advisors at the National Bureau of Asian Research, a mentor in the life sciences at the Don Ryan Center for Innovation in Bluffton, SC and President of the University of Michigan Alumni Club — Hilton Head/Beaufort County. She holds a B.S. in Medical Technology from the University of Michigan, a Ph.D. in Environmental Health/Toxicology from the University of Cincinnati, a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Molecular Biochemistry from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and a J.D. from Rutgers University Law School.