Saturday, February 10, 2007, 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm
As Asian nations become wealthier and further integrated into the global economy, public health becomes ever more important. Citizens are increasingly sophisticated and demand access to the highest possible quality of health care. Businesses are concerned about the health of their employees and seek opportunities to enter the Asian market for health care products and services. Governments find their ability to control the spread of contagious disease and deliver health services impacts not only economic growth and investment, but even their legitimacy. Each country faces unique challenges, but all are struggling with the questions of how to provide the best services, who should pay for health care, and what can be done to encourage health care innovations. The panel will discuss the challenges facing health authorities and companies in Asia, the proper roles for public and private entities and ways in which government and business can work together to meet the health care needs of Asia’s increasingly prosperous populations.
Jim Mullinax is a Foreign Service Officer, currently on sabbatical at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He has spent the majority of his career in Asia, serving in the Philippines, Indonesia, and most recently, in Taiwan where he was responsible for U.S.-Taiwan Trade Policy. As part of his work in Taiwan, he worked closely with Taiwan health authorities to facilitate trade in medical products and to create a bimonthly dialogue between U.S. government, industry, and the Taiwan Ministry of Health to discuss regulation, protection and pricing of imported pharmaceuticals and medical devices. He has also had assignments in Washington, D.C. and the former Yugoslavia. He speaks Mandarin Chinese and Indonesian.
Rob Brown is currently the Executive Director for International Marketing at Eli Lilly and Company. Rob joined Lilly in 1985 as a Sales Trainee in the US pharmaceutical sales division. He has held positions in the marketing component for most of his career with assignments as a marketing plans associate, district manager, marketing plans manager, director of global marketing, as well as the marketing director of the Cialis product team. Rob was also the general manager of our China affiliate for four years. Rob is a graduate of DePauw University, with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. He then received his Masters in Marketing from Indiana University.
Hocking Cheng is Director of Strategy & Business Development at Aetna Global Benefits, Aetna Inc. Hocking is responsible for Aetna's strategy and business development in the Asia Pacific. Through Aetna Global Benefits, Aetna provides comprehensive health services for executives in nearly 100 countries. It is also working with strategic international health organizations to improve health care value through innovative products and services worldwide. Hocking also worked with Ernst & Young, focusing on Health Care M&A transaction advisory in the Asia Pacific. His clients included leading private equity firms and large multinational health care organizations. He completed his medical training at Shanghai Second Medical University. Hocking had hands-on experience in the clinical environment in China and participated in the creation of one of the first joint venture hospitals in China.
Dr. Hsiao is the K.T. Li Professor of Economics at the Department of Health Policy and Management of the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Hsiao's health policy research program spans across developed and less developed nations. Comparing health systems across industrialized nations, Dr. Hsiao applies political and economic theories to develop a structural framework of essential elements of health systems. Employing his systemic framework, he is assisting Taiwan, Cyprus, Mexico, Colombia, China, and Sweden in their health systems reforms. In developing nations, Hsiao's research focuses on the development of sustainable financing mechanisms to provide health care for the poor, rural population, and urban workers. With UNICEF's support, he collaborates with seven universities in China to conduct a nationwide study on health care financing and provision for 100 million poor Chinese. Meanwhile, with the support of The World Bank, he is launching a large scale social experiment on community financing for the rural Chinese population, involving 100 communities and two million people.
Jeffrey Li is the Country President of Novartis China. Jeffrey joined Novartis in 2004 from the Pritzker family where he worked in a number of positions of advisory and general management responsibilities for 11 years. In the last five years at the Pritzker family, he was President of Getz Commercial, an international sales and marketing company. Jeffrey has BS from Beijing University of Aeronautics and MS from Illinois Institute of Technology.
Yehong is Vice President, China, of IMS Health. Yehong previously served as Director and Managing Consultant of Core Solutions in Hong Kong and China where he handled business intelligence and supply chain management throughout the Asia Pacific region. He started his pharmaceutical career in 1990 at Merck, playing a significant role in the launch and life cycle management of major drugs such as PRILOSEC, FOSAMAX, ZOCOR and PROSCAR. He worked in England, France, USA (West Point, White House Station), Puerto Rico and Canada until 2001. Following a successful assignment as the chair of the ZOCOR franchise team, he moved on to its Business Affairs organization where he focused on supply chain and partnership management, licensing and strategic deal negotiation and outsourcing. Yehong grew up in Northern China and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Harvard University. He also holds a MBA from Wharton and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, USA.