Population Health Colloquium Series

Lehigh’s College of Health (COH) has been on the cutting edge of health education and technology since its inception in 2019. Faced with the multitude of challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, College of Health leadership rallied together to explore ways students could interact with industry leaders and thinkers on current, pressing topics. In Fall 2020, the Population Health Colloquium series kicked off, with multiple lectures and panels hosted throughout the academic year engaging students and the public about navigating the circumstances of a national health crisis. From there, the series has grown to become an annual hallmark in the College, encouraging continuous growth and addressing the here and now. All events are remote and free of charge, sticking to our mission of attracting world-class talent while staying fully accessible to our community.

The current series celebrates the first incoming class for the Integrated Business and Health Program, and features Lehigh University's alumni and friends who are leaders and experts in various aspects of the business of health. 

Translating Discovery: Insights from Biotech and Pharma Leaders
November 13, 2025 @ 12:00-1:30p ET
Zoom registration link: HERE  

Breakthroughs in science have the power to change lives - but only when discoveries make the leap from the lab to the real world. Join us to hear pioneering voices from across the biotech industry explore how innovation become impact.
 

Moderator: Emily Winn-Deen, PhD '74
Retired Senior Diagnostics Executive

Dr. Winn-Deen, ,74 received her B.S. in Chemistry from Lehigh University and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Boston University, has over 45 years of experience in diagnostics and genomics product development, and is an inventor on 38 issued and 11 pending US patents. At the end of 2023 she retired as senior vice-president, diagnostics strategy for Mercy BioAnalytics, a start-up company working to develop blood-based tests for the early detection of cancer. Additional executive experience includes serving as president of Rx Dx Advisors, a diagnostics and life sciences consulting company, where she focused on assisting clients with bringing cutting edge molecular diagnostics to market, chief strategy officer and advisor for Mesa Biotech, a start-up company focused on delivering simplified molecular diagnostic solutions for point-of-care applications, vice president of research services at AltheaDx, and vice president for diagnostics product development at Illumina. Full bio > 

Panelist: Tom Anderson, '77
Board of Directors, Zevra Therapeutics

Thomas D. Anderson '77, has served as a director of Zevra Therapeutics since August 2023. Mr. Anderson is a 35-year veteran of the biopharma industry and has led and been a part of high-growth organizations for much of his career. Mr. Anderson has served as chief executive officer and director of SwanBio Therapeutics since September 2019 until semi-retirement in October 2023, and subsequently resigned his board directorship in March 2024. Prior to that, he served as the chief commercial strategy officer of Sage Therapeutics, Inc. from 2014 to 2018. Between 2004 and 2014, Mr. Anderson was a senior operating executive with Shire Pharmaceuticals Group in a number of operational and strategic roles in both rare diseases and specialty pharmaceuticals. Prior to Shire, he spent 17 years at Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical companies, McNeil and Janssen, in various business capacities. Mr. Anderson is also an investor partner at Robin Hood Ventures in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Anderson earned his MBA from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business Administration. He received his BS in civil engineering from the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering at Lehigh University. Our Board believes that Mr. Anderson’s significant leadership experience in the biotechnology industry and his experience in rare disease qualifies him to serve on the Board.

Panelist: Jeremy Schmalzle, '97
Vice President, HIV Program Strategy Lead, Gilead Sciences

Jeremy Schmalzle is the VP, Program Strategy Lead at Gilead Sciences where he is responsible for shaping the overarching program vision, strategic context and life-cycle plan for their HIV Prevention portfolio. With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Jeremy has led global strategy development and product launches across multiple therapeutic areas. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in both Chemistry and International Business from Lehigh University (class of 1997) and a Masters in Business Administration from Rutgers University.

Panelist: Jim Wassil, '95G, '05G
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Vaxcyte

Jim brings over three decades of experience developing and commercializing vaccines intended to treat or prevent diseases that impact children and adults around the world. During this time, he held significant leadership positions in the vaccine divisions of Pfizer, Novartis and Merck. Prior to joining Vaxcyte, Jim served as the business unit lead for Pfizer Vaccines with a span of responsibility across market access, policy, pricing, tender negotiations, epidemiology and health outcomes for the entire portfolio, including the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine franchise (Prevnar 13®). Jim was also a long-tenured leader at Novartis where he led the development and launch of Menveo, a meningococcal conjugate vaccine; Bexsero®, a meningitis B vaccine; and the meningococcal ABCWY vaccine candidate.  Previously, he led international marketing for the pediatric vaccine franchise at Merck Vaccines where he launched RotaTeq®, a vaccine for rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants, and held other technical and operational roles of increasing responsibility within research, manufacturing, quality, regulatory and technology transfer. Full bio >