At a recent AcademyHealth Research Meeting in Seattle, NBCC’s Chief Policy Officer Melanie Wyne represented the patient advocate voice on a panel on expedited regulatory programs for cancer drugs around the world.
Dr. Mahnum Shahzad, a health economist with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute’s Department of Population Medicine, reflected on NBCC’s participation in the discussion:
I think the patient voice is essential in these discussions… In this instance, Melanie’s experience as a cancer survivor, combined with her policy expertise, lent a distinctive perspective to what patient needs regulatory bodies should be attentive to.