Stephen W. Drew is a former Distinguished Senior Scientist at Merck & Co., Inc. where his responsibilities encompassed the development of new process technologies for biologics and pharmaceutical manufacturing and technology transfer. Since retirement from Merck, he has founded two new companies (Drew Solutions LLC, a direct consulting firm and Science Partners LLC, an advocacy company for medicines and technologies) that support the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to his retirement, he held vice presidential positions of responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc. as the VP of Vaccine Science and Technology, the VP of Vaccine Operations, and the VP of Technical Operations & Engineering. He joined Merck in 1981 to create the Department of Biochemical Engineering. At Merck, he contributed to the process development and manufacture of several conventional and recombinant microbial products ranging from antibiotics to vaccines. Dr. Drew has expertise in the following areas: manufacturing processes for human and animal vaccines; recombinant biologics; chemical, biological and engineering technology for bulk manufacture of pharmaceuticals and biologics; capital project engineering; process engineering; and fermentation, cell culture, isolation and purification processes for sterile products. Dr. Drew received his B.S. and an M.S. in food science from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in biochemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1993 and is a member of several professional organizations serving interests in chemical engineering, chemistry and biology. He has held offices in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Chemical Society, the American Society for Microbiology, and the Society for Industrial Microbiology, and is a Founding Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He has served as Chairman of the advisory committee to the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation. He is a member of two standing committees of the National Research Council (NRC) and has participated in many NRC studies.
Dr. Gay obtained a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from The George Washington University. Dr. Gay has worked in the veterinary vaccine and animal health fields for the last 20 years holding several positions of increasing responsibility in the federal government and the pharmaceutical industry. As Chief, Biotechnology Section, Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Dr. Gay developed the procedures for licensing molecular vaccines that led to the first license for a live recombinant vectored vaccine worldwide. Dr. Gay has led several cross-functional teams in industry that developed veterinary vaccines. As Director, Global Product Development, Pfizer Inc., he developed strategic and tactical plans that interfaced R&D, clinical development, manufacturing, marketing, and product life-cycle management. Dr. Gay is currently the National Program Leader, Animal Health, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA. Dr. Gay provides program direction and national coordination for the department’s intramural Animal Health National Research Program, comprised of 124 scientists located in 11 research locations throughout the United States, including: the National Animal Disease Center (NADC), Ames, Iowa, the Avian Diseases and Oncology Laboratory (ADOL), East Lansing, Michigan, the Meat Animal Research Center (MARC), Clay Center, Nebraska, the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, Athens, Georgia, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient Point, New York, the Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Beltsville, Maryland, the Arthropod-Borne Diseases Research Center, Laramie, Wyoming, and the Poultry Research Unit, Mississippi State, Mississippi. Vaccine discovery is a core component of the Animal Health National Research Program.
Sheldon H. Jacobson is a Professor, Willett Faculty Scholar and Director of the Simulation and Optimization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has a B.Sc. and M.Sc. (both in Mathematics) from McGill University, and a M.S. and Ph.D. (both in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering) from Cornell University. Since 1996, he has been applying operation research methodologies to address healthcare problems associated with pediatric immunization and vaccination economics, pediatric vaccine pricing, and pediatric vaccine stockpile economics. He has received numerous awards for his research, including a Best Paper Award in IIE Transactions Focused Issue on Operations Engineering and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. His healthcare research has been published in a wide spectrum of operations research and medical journals, including Health Care Management Science, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, and Vaccine, among others. He has briefed the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP), the committee that provides guidance to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on issues related to immunization policy in the United States. He has also worked to transition his research into a publicly available web site, www.vaccineselection.com, which has been widely used by both government and private sector organization. He has received research funding from several government agencies and industrial partners, including the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Dr. Ritchey, of Ritchey Associates, Inc., is currently engaged in consulting for the pharmaceutical industry with a focus in the vaccines area.
Prior to taking on consulting assignments she spent 29 years in the pharmaceutical industry working on the development, manufacturing and quality aspects of vaccines and other sterile pharmaceutical products. She joined Lederle Laboratories in 1977 where her initial assignments involved developing processes for manufacturing influenza and poliovirus vaccines. During her tenure at Lederle, and then Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, she held positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of R&D, manufacturing, quality, and technical services. In 1992 she became Vice President of Operations for the Vaccines group and held additional Vice President Positions until her retirement in 2006. Product areas that she was involved in during her years at Lederle and Wyeth included vaccines for viral influenza and polio, including live attenuated and inactivated; diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, including acellular pertussis; Haemophilus influenzae, meningitis and pneumonia, including polysaccharides and conjugates.
Dr. Ritchey received her BA in Biology from Emmanuel College in Boston, MA, and her PhD in microbiology from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Prior to joining industry she completed post-doctoral studies on influenza viruses at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York City.