Five New Members Appointed to Health Advisory Board at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has named five new members to its Health Advisory Board. Irene Frary, Caroline Popper, Ellen Strahlman, Marion Bergman and Stephen H. Willard join the 40-member board, which advises the Bloomberg School’s leadership on critical issues and emerging opportunities for external collaborations, while also providing philanthropic support. The new members represent a cross-section of professions and include two alumni.
Established in 1981 to foster a dialogue between external audiences and the School’s dean and faculty, the Health Advisory Board focuses on all areas of the School’s work, including research, educational and professional-practice programs. Members include Johns Hopkins University trustees, alumni and friends from corporations, foundations and private organizations.
“The Health Advisory Board is an essential part of the success of our School,” says Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH ’87, dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Members bring invaluable insights and perspective to our decision making. We enthusiastically welcome these new members to the Board and look forward to their contributions to our mission.”
About the New Members
Irene Frary, MBA, has been involved with the women's reproductive rights movement for many years. She was one of the founders of Council 2000, a development project for NARAL Pro-Choice America and served as a board member of NARAL Pro-Choice New York and the National Institute for Reproductive Health. Frary and her husband, Richard, sponsored a project for the JHU Center for Reproductive Health, Ethics and Rights that resulted in the brief, “Abortion and Mental Health: Reviewing the Evidence.”
Frary earned a BA in Visual Arts from Goucher College and an MBA in Marketing from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. She worked in strategic marketing and account management at Ogilvy & Mather in New York.
Ms. Frary served three terms as a trustee for the Ethical Culture-Fieldston School in New York. Currently, she is a member of the Chairman's Council of the New York Historical Society.
“The research scientists, health care professionals and students at the Bloomberg School of Public Health constantly amaze me,” Frary says. “They dedicate their lives to solving the most difficult health problems and implementing those solutions on a global basis. Their boundless energy and total commitment make me believe that tomorrow's world will be a better place. I feel privileged to be a small part of this wonderful organization.”
Caroline Popper, MD, MPH, is the co-founder and president of Popper and Company, a life sciences firm addressing inefficiencies in health care. She and her team of diverse professionals – including physicians, engineers, scientists and clinicians – advise clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies about how to improve the health care delivery system and support the empowered health care consumer.
An alumna of the Bloomberg School, Popper received her MD from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) School of Medicine. She completed residencies in internal medicine and pathology at Johns Hopkins and received her MPH from the Bloomberg School in 1990.
In addition to her work with Popper and Company, Popper serves on company boards in the U.S. and abroad.
“I am particularly exited to join the Health Advisory Board at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which provided me the most valuable year of my entire university education,” Popper says. “I continue to learn every time I come here. It’s a privilege and very humbling.”
Ellen Strahlman, MD, MHSc, is the senior vice president of research and development and chief medical officer for BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company). Strahlman serves on the CEO’s Management Committee, Worldwide Operating Committee, the BD Leadership Team and CenterPoint Steering Team. She co-chairs BD’s Innovation Council, chairs the R&D Management Committee and the Medical Affairs Leadership Team, and she leads the Office of Science, Medicine & Technology. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Syncona Partners. She has held this position since July, 2013.
Strahlman, an alumna of the Bloomberg School, has a BS in biomedical sciences from Harvard. She received her medical degree in 1983 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she earned medical qualifications in general surgery (Johns Hopkins) and ophthalmology (Wilmer Institute, Johns Hopkins). She was a Carnegie-Mellon Physician Public Health Fellow while studying for her MHSc at the Bloomberg School.
“A theme I have for myself is doing well by doing good,” Strahlman says. “And also doing my best to give back for the great advantages I’ve had, not only with my education but in my career. Being part of the HAB for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health allows me to really get reconnected to my alma mater, the place that gave me my start and values for the rest of my career.”
Marion Bergman, MD, MPA, is the director of Health Care Projects for Miracle Corners of the World (MCW). She also serves as an adjunct professor at NYU’s College of Nursing, and as chair and co-founder of the American Jewish Committee’s Africa Institute.
A graduate of Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, South Africa, Bergman practiced pulmonary medicine and critical care in the United States for three decades. Today, she focuses much of her attention on rural health and the developing world, and holds leadership positions in the Global Child Dental Fund, the American Jewish World Service and Physicians for Human Rights.
Bergman is an advisory board member at Tel Aviv University’s Harold Hartog School of Government and Public Policy, and a member of the Board of Visitors at Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry.
"It's such a unique privilege and honor for me to have been considered for membership of the HAB,” says Bergman. “I am truly excited to participate and look forward to a time of expanded learning, sharing and exchanging ideas on the global health challenges that we continue to face."
Stephen H. Willard, JD, currently serves as the CEO of Cellphire, Inc., a private company that develops cellular technologies for use in the therapeutic and diagnostic markets. He was previously chief executive officer of Flamel Technologies, Inc., a NASDAQ-traded drug delivery company, and subsequently served as chair of its Board of Directors. He also served in various board of director positions over 14 years with E*TRADE, including a time as vice chairman.
A graduate of Williams College, Willard received his Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School, where he served as a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal.
Altogether, Willard has over 30 years experience at companies ranging from private start-ups to public companies valued at more than $1 billion on the NASDAQ exchange. As an HAB member, he hopes to help the School become more involved in commercial, scientific and government-focused initiatives.
“I am passionate about the importance of developing responses to the infectious diseases that threaten, and will threaten our world,” he said. “The Bloomberg School is the world’s preeminent school of public health and I look forward to focusing on bringing the innovations of their scientists from lab to active use for the benefit of all nations.”
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As a leading international authority on public health, the Bloomberg School of Public Health is dedicated to protecting health and saving lives. Every day, the Bloomberg School works to keep millions safe from illness and injury by pioneering new research, deploying its knowledge and expertise in the field, and educating tomorrow's scientists and practitioners in the global defense of human life. Founded in 1916 as part of the Johns Hopkins University, the Bloomberg School of Public Health is the world’s oldest and largest independent school of public health.
Media Contacts for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Stephanie Desmon at sdesmon1@jhu.edu or 410-955-7619 and Barbara Benham at bbenham1@jhu.edu or 410-614-6029.