Prominent Outcomes Researcher and Patient Advocate Joins PHSR Faculty

Eleanor Perfetto, PhD, MS, former senior director of federal government relations at Pfizer, announced as department’s newest professor.

By Malissa Carroll
July 11, 2013

The Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research (PHSR) at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy welcomed Eleanor Perfetto, PhD, MS, as its newest faculty member on July 1. Perfetto joined the department as a full professor following a successful career at Pfizer, where she most recently served as senior director of federal government relations.

“We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Perfetto to the School of Pharmacy,” says Ilene Zuckerman, PharmD, PhD, professor and chair of PHSR. “Having worked in the pharmaceutical industry, government, and as an independent consultant, she brings a unique perspective and skillset to our department from which I am confident that our faculty and graduate students will greatly benefit. Her achievements, both as a researcher and as a patient advocate, are numerous, and we are very excited to have her as a member of our faculty.”

One of many pharmacists in her family, Perfetto received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island. She began her career as a pharmacist with the US Public Health Service Indian Health Service, serving on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and in Oklahoma for six years. She completed her doctorate at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, where her research concentrated in health policy and epidemiology.

Before joining the faculty in PHSR, Perfetto served as the senior director of federal government relations at Pfizer, Inc., the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company, where she analyzed health policy issues, including issues related to comparative effectiveness research, health care quality performance measurement, patient-focused drug development, and reimbursement.

“My goal is to find new ways to engage patients in research,” says Perfetto. “As a result, my work at the School of Pharmacy will focus on comparative effectiveness research and patient-centered outcomes research. I want to examine issues related to health care policy, such as health care reform and its implications on the way that medicines are distributed, paid for, and used, and how those issues affect patients.”

In addition to her appointment in PHSR, Perfetto currently serves as a board member for the Pharmacy Quality Alliance and on the Health Industry Forum Board of Advisors. She was appointed to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2011, and served on the National Quality Forum’s Steering Committee for a Framework for Measurement, Evaluation, and Reporting of Healthcare Acquired Conditions in 2011, as well as its Patient-Reported Outcomes Expert Panel in 2012.

“As someone who has worked in a number of different sectors, including industry, government, and consulting, I’m looking forward to joining academia and sharing my experiences with the students in PHSR,” says Perfetto. “I hope my experiences will give them a better understanding about the broad range of opportunities that are available to them after they leave the School.”

Although renowned for her work in comparative effectiveness research, quality, health economics and outcomes research, and related policy and regulatory topics, Perfetto is also known for her work advocating on behalf of patients with dementia and their families. A caregiver for a family member with dementia, she was awarded the Advocacy Leadership Award by the New York City Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association in 2007, as well as the Alzheimer’s Association National Capital Area Chapter Award for Advocacy and Awareness in 2010. In 2012, she received the Legacy Award from the Sports Legacy Institute, for which she also serves as a board member.

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