Tim joined ARM as CEO in 2022 with more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. A company-builder with a focus on corporate culture, he has helped early-stage organizations create internal cohesion and advance strategic initiatives. As chief executive, Tim divides his time between managing ARM and its global staff of nearly 30 employees and serving as an external advocate on behalf of ARM’s membership and the broader cell and gene therapy sector.
Tim was most recently the Chief Culture and Corporate Affairs Officer at Xilio Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing tumor-selective immuno-oncology therapies for patients with cancer. Prior to that, he was the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at CRISPR gene-editing pioneer Editas Medicine, where he led the company’s global policy and government affairs, bioethics, communications, market development and human resources initiatives. He also served in executive public affairs roles at Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Biogen.
Tim was an Advisory Group member of the Value-Based Payments for Medical Products consortium at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. He also has been a member of the Board of Directors of the non-profit organization Life Science Cares and has chaired the Ethics Committee of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT).
Tim is also no stranger to the ARM network. He previously served as a member of ARM’s Gene Editing Task Force and on the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s Gene Editing Working Group.
Tim received a B.A. in history and philosophy from Boston College and a J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America. He lives in Boston with his wife and children and is a passionate fan of the Boston Celtics.
As Chief Strategy Officer, Mark leverages more than three decades of experience in the biotechnology sector to lead ARM’s global public affairs, oversee strategic planning, and guide the organization’s mission and vision. He has a proven track record of building effective organizations and successfully engaging policymakers and other stakeholders.
Mark spent seven years at bluebird bio, culminating in his role as Senior Vice President of Global External Affairs and U.S. Government Payer, where he oversaw the global communications, patient advocacy, alliance development, public policy, government affairs, and state healthcare program functions. This also includes an extensive background of engaging industry leaders, patient organizations, and policymakers in the U.S. and Europe.
During his tenure at bluebird, he served on ARM’s Board of Directors and was a member of the government affairs committee at the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy. Previously, he served in executive roles at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacia Corporation, and Schering-Plough Corporation. He holds a Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law.
Mark is also a frequent guest lecturer on the role of public affairs in the United States and the European Union. In addition, Mr. Battaglini offers his time and resources to several U.S. veteran organizations.
Rita joined ARM as Chief Operating Officer in 2023 bringing more than 20 years of healthcare experience. She most recently served as the Vice President of Sales and Qualified Treatment Centers (QTC) at bluebird bio, where she built and scaled bluebird’s pre-commercial US sales and QTC operations teams to support the launch of the ZYNTEGLO® and SKYSONA® gene therapy brands and the establishment of bluebird’s QTC hospital network.
Prior to that, she built the pre-commercial commercial operations functional team to support the successful launch of LUXTURNA® while at Spark Therapeutics. Previously, she held roles in finance, commercial operations, and sales in both North and South America for AstraZeneca. Her career began in strategic consulting with Accenture’s pharmaceuticals practice.
Rita earned her MBA in Finance and Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University.
Michael joined ARM in 2018 as its first Director of Science and Industry Affairs. Michael has over 20 years of R&D experience in biomaterials, medical devices and regenerative medicine. He has led product development teams for class II devices, human cell and tissue-based products, and drug/device combination products. He is a creator and an inventor with multiple U.S. patents to his name.
Michael has a MSc in /Biomedical Engineering, with a focus on tissue engineering, from Drexel University. Michaels areas of expertise include cell-based tissue engineering, bioceramics, biodegradable polymers, project management, strategic pipeline development, and business development.
He is passionate about regenerative medicine and believes that it represents our best hope for meeting many unmet clinical needs, thereby changing patient’s lives for the better.
Erica joined ARM as its Vice President for Government Affairs in 2023, leading our core congressional and government agency elements of the Alliance’s long-term strategic plan for the US. Erica has been a trusted resource for policymakers and government leaders throughout her career, with immense experience in policy analysis and strategy development.
Before ARM, Erica was the Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), leading the organization’s federal advocacy efforts with members of Congress, Administration officials, and their staff. During her tenure, she led the Academy’s federal engagement on the COVID-19 pandemic response and helped secure significant Medicare and Medicaid coverage and payment changes that benefit primary care clinicians and their patients.
Erica spent nearly a decade as a public servant working to enact and implement national health reform. She worked in the Obama Administration at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she helped to launch Healthcare.gov, develop and operationalize several CMS Innovation Center alternative payment models, and facilitate numerous states’ expansion of Medicaid coverage and compliance with Affordable Care Act modernization requirements. Erica also served as a health policy advisor in the U.S. Senate, advising a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. She was part of bipartisan negotiations on the 21st Century Cures Act during her time on Capitol Hill.
Erica has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Health from George Washington University. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two children.
Michael Werner has almost three decades of healthcare law, lobbying, regulatory, reimbursement and policy development experience in Washington. He is the co-founder & senior policy counsel of ARM as well as a Partner at Holland & Knight LLP. In these roles, Michael focuses on issues affecting biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, medical research and research institutions, physicians and patients. His specific areas of knowledge include legislation and implementing FDA regulations regarding drug/biologic review, approval and distribution; reimbursement strategy and issues; FDA and NIH oversight of clinical trials including registries and reporting of trial results; approval and marketing of orphan drugs; stem cell research and regulation of cell therapy, gene therapy, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine products; human subject protection issues such as IRB review and informed consent, as well as conflicts of interest and other bioethics issues arising from research and uses of new technologies.
Before joining Holland & Knight and founding ARM, Michael was president of The Werner Group, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that provided lobbying, regulatory, and bioethics consulting services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, physicians, health plans, investors, and patient advocacy groups. Prior to founding The Werner Group, he was chief of policy for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), representing over 1000 biotechnology companies in the U.S. and other countries.
Before BIO, he spent six years as counsel for legislation and policy for the American College of Physicians. Mr. Werner was senior healthcare advisor to U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, a congressional investigator for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and senior advisor to Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer.
Shakita is a self-described problem solver. Shakita was drawn to operations because it allows her to work with her colleagues from all parts of the organization. By ensuring that the general needs of the organization are met, Shakita allows other ARM employees to focus on their strategic priorities.
As the Operations Manager at ARM, Shakita helps to identify solutions to help boost efficiency and effectiveness. Like many of the organizations where she has worked before, ARM is expanding rapidly, giving Shakita the opportunity to develop and implement new internal procedures and policies to keep pace with ARM’s growth. As ARM’s Operations Manager, Shakita handles a range of HR-related matters, facilitates the implementation of office- and IT-related projects, and provides support for finance-related matters.
Shakita, who lives in the DC metropolitan area, enjoys learning new software programs and cooking. Highly organized in both her professional and personal life, she is known for sending out detailed itineraries on family vacations.
Elaine Blauser joined ARM in 2022 as the Membership and Public Affairs Coordinator. Prior to ARM, she spent five years working in private event management and membership sales at The Army and Navy Club on Farragut Square.
Elaine earned her B.S. in Hospitality Management from The University of Pittsburgh and her M.S. in Travel & Tourism from Temple University. She currently resides in Washington, D.C. with her mischievous cat Lawrence.
Savannah Bryant joined ARM in 2022 as the Events Coordinator. Prior to ARM, she spent four years working as a Special Events Coordinator at The Johns Hopkins University, where she managed several campus venues, including academic buildings and outdoor spaces. Working with a range of clients including faculty, student affairs departments, student groups, and many external clients, she supported all the logistical backend work to bring their events to fruition. Prior to that she worked within the arts, curating several small to large group exhibitions. She earned her B.A. in History and Philosophy from Slippery Rock University. She currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland.
After four years of managing partnering for life sciences conferences, including ARM’s Meeting on the Mesa, Jancee’s role as the Senior Manager of Events and Marketing at ARM fits like a puzzle piece. While Jancee’s previous experience has lessened the learning curve, there is always a lot to learn about the regenerative medicine sector – and she loves continually being a student.
Jancee began her role at ARM in the spring of 2021. A jack-of-all-trades, she enjoys being involved in the many, many tasks involved in making sure ARM’s events run smoothly. She feels that most people would be surprised at the behind-the-scenes work involved in events – which for Jancee includes coding the conference websites, sending e-blasts, putting together programming, and managing vendors.
Jancee lives in San Diego with her husband and their dog and cat. She loves traveling – which is one of her favorite parts of working in the events industry – and has visited more than 20 countries across five continents, including spending a year teaching English in South Korea.
Natalie joined ARM in 2022 as a Manager for Science & Industry Affairs. She brings over 10 years of experience in regenerative medicine, having worked both in academia and the private sector. At ARM, Natalie is building bridges among developers, manufacturers, and regulators.
An immunologist by training, Natalie is experienced with GMP-compliant cell therapy manufacturing. She holds a PhD from the University of Ulm and conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at McGill University, where she researched the impact of cell culture surfaces and cell-fate decisions.
Before joining ARM, Natalie worked at Saint-Gobain where she established the Life Sciences Laboratory dedicated to the company’s Cell & Gene Therapy product portfolio and managed R&D activities focused on improving bioprocessing workflows and cell performance.
Born in Germany, Natalie has lived in the Netherlands and Canada, and is currently based in the Boston area. She enjoys exploring cities and nature and makes it a mission to find the best bakery in any town.
Each step of Stephen’s 15-year career converged at ARM in his role of Senior Director of Public Affairs: A journalist covering politics and state legislatures; a business development professional advising companies on how to navigate geopolitical risk; a pharma and biotech industry consultant; a graduate of journalism and public policy programs.
At ARM, Stephen serves as global media spokesperson and social media strategist, and contributes to ARM’s policy and advocacy objectives in Washington, in state capitals, and in Brussels. He breaks down complex science for the public and policymakers, and explains why policies need to change to ensure that patients can benefit from the groundbreaking advancements of ARM’s members.
Stephen thought he left science behind after muddling his way through AP Chemistry in high school. He’s glad he was wrong. Stephen lives in Bethesda, MD, with his wife, son, and rambunctious beagle/lab mix.
Kelly McWhinney, CMP, joined ARM in 2021 as the Director of Events. She has spent her entire career in event management and has more than twenty years of experience in complex event design and execution. Prior to ARM, she was the Director of Event Services at Federal Conference, an event consulting firm in Alexandria, VA. In this role, she was responsible for managing a team of event planners who executed over fifty events annually. Additionally, she served as a strategic leader and consulted on a variety of events ranging from commercial to government to not-for-profit. She began her career at various luxury resorts where she managed meetings and events for over ten years.
Kelly received a B.S. in Business Administration, Marketing from University of Central Florida. Originally from Boca Raton, FL, she now resides in North Carolina with her husband and two daughters.
Brittany joined ARM in 2022 as the Events Manager. Before joining the team, she spent most of her career event planning for local parks and recreation departments in DC and Northern Virginia. Brittany created programs to provide educational and recreational opportunities for adults, alongside putting on large-scale, city-wide events for the public. Prior to working in local government, she was a Recreational Therapist in the healthcare industry. She earned her B.S in Recreational Management and Dance from Lock Haven University. Originally from Long Island, Brittany currently resides in Washington, DC where she loves to eat at new restaurants, teach Barre3 fitness and catch concerts at the 9:30 club.
Paolo leads European public affairs activities at ARM. He is a patient access, healthcare policy and investment professional with more than 20 years of experience in both assessing and supporting access to innovative healthcare technologies. Before joining ARM in 2017, Paolo worked for 5 years at Deerfield Management, a healthcare investment company. Prior to that, he worked at Merck Serono, Kyphon (which became Medtronic) and also spent several years with the Italian HTA Agency Agenas. Paolo’s interests and expertise are centered on cell and gene therapy value assessment, healthcare system modernization and financing healthcare innovation.
Josephine joined ARM in 2021 as its Manager of Science and Industry Affairs. She brings to ARM over 10 years of R&D experience in the tissue engineering & regenerative medicine field. In addition to her technical know-how, she honed many “soft skills” while working towards her PhD in chemical engineering, including project management, working with external collaborators, and helping to identify solutions for complex problems in the field. Prior to coming to ARM, she worked with ARM member Rooster Bio, where she led their scalable hMSC manufacturing programs, oversaw the technical direction in cGMP tech transfer, and managed their custom Process Design & Acceleration services.
Josephine sees her role at ARM as an opportunity to refine the field of regenerative medicine. She is excited to know ARM’s work to develop best practices and provide feedback to regulatory agencies will help to shape the future of the sector. While ARM is not Josephine’s first foray into the cell and gene therapy sector, she marvels at the breadth of therapies developed by ARM member companies. She appreciates the collaborative environment fostered by ARM members and the willingness to share their knowledge of the field.
Josephine lives in the DC Metropolitan area with her husband and son and enjoys playing volleyball in her free time.
Brett’s interest in health policy and market access began when Congress approved the Affordable Care Act in 2010 while he was working in the U.S. Senate. Over his 15+ year career, Brett has worked at organizations including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and United Healthcare (UHC), advising both policymakers and companies on political strategy and policy development. His interest in the regenerative medicine sector was sparked while working on Medicare regulatory policy at UHC, where he analyzed innovative payment models for CAR-T therapies.
As ARM’s Director of U.S. Market Access and State Government Relations, Brett leverages his extensive experience and innate problem-solving skills to advance patient access to innovative therapies. He manages ARM’s U.S. Market Access committee to advance coverage and reimbursement of cell and gene therapies at the federal level and with commercial payers, and he leads ARM’s involvement with state governments to help shape state policies that promote access to innovative therapies. He enjoys working at an organization with a clear and meaningful mission, where he can contribute to the development of policy solutions that have not been explored or effectively executed.
Brett graduated from Union University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and English. He currently resides in Virginia.
Kristy has always been drawn to the nonprofit sector and the ability of organizations to positively impact peoples’ lives. Kristy has worked in administrative, operations, and marketing roles, familiarizing herself with the different functions ongoing at an organization. Her diverse experience means that she is always willing to jump in and lend a helping hand where needed.
At ARM, Kristy does much of the behind-the-scenes work for ARM’s membership team. In particular, she manages the renewal process for existing members as well as the onboarding process for all new members. Additionally, she also helps to maintain the membership database, keeps spreadsheets up-to-date, processes invoices, and acts as a source of information for ARM members. This is Kristy’s first role in biotech, and she enjoys working in a growing, fast-paced industry that is propelling medicine forward and making a difference in the lives of patients.
Kristy lives in New Jersey and enjoys spending quality time with her family and watching the NY Mets. She is also a fitness enthusiast and can often be found working out and experimenting with new, healthy recipes.
Aleksandra has focused on quantitative transformation across multiple industries, building out data and analytical capabilities in-house. She is passionate about delivering actionable insights, telling impactful stories, and developing sustainable data-driven decision-making capabilities.
Joining ARM in 2022 as the organization’s first Manager of Data and Analytics, Aleksandra helps educate ARM’s membership, policymakers, and the public via a forward-looking quantitative foundation for the cell and gene therapy sector.
Aleksandra has a PhD in statistics from University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she focused on adaptive designs to improve Phase III clinical trials. In her spare time, Aleksandra loves to learn about new foods and cultures, and how they impact each other. She is based in Charlotte, NC.
Laura comes to the Alliance with extensive experience in marketing and event coordination for multi-stakeholder organizations. Prior to ARM, she was the marketing & event manager at Janssen Labs, a healthcare incubator housed within Janssen Research & Development, the pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson. There, Laura implemented all marketing and press strategies surrounding the newly opened innovation center, as well as managed multiple event programs aimed at increasing awareness of the facility and its residing start-up companies. Previously, Laura spent more than three years managing programs and events for CONNECT, a San Diego not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship.
Laura received a B.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management with an emphasis in Meeting and Event Management from San Diego State University.
Tommy was excited to return to the non-profit sector when he joined the ARM team in 2021. Prior to working at ARM, he was the Special Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Management Office. While there is plenty of overlap in his job duties at both positions, Tommy was excited to leave some of the red tape behind to work with a smaller, mission-oriented organization.
No job is too small for Tommy, who works behind the scenes on everything from managing ARM CEO Tim Hunt’s schedule and wrangling the office printer to hanging coat hooks in the ARM offices. A naturally empathetic person with a strong commitment to customer service, he excels at anticipating and acting on the needs of senior staff at ARM. A self-described nerd, Tommy enjoys the opportunity to learn more about the sector as he takes minutes for ARM’s Science & Industry committees.
Tommy is originally from Sicklerville, NJ and currently resides in Leesburg, VA with his wife and dogs, Rocky and Charlie. He plays ice hockey and is fluent in American Sign Language.
David started his career in local radio and television where he worked both on-air and behind the camera. A self-described introvert, it is perhaps unsurprising that David opted to transition into finance early on in his career, and now spends the majority of his working hours toiling over spreadsheets in peace — although he does venture out periodically to reassure his coworkers that he is not a hermit.
As ARM’s Vice President of Finance and Operations, David uses his natural planning and organizational skills to help balance competing deadlines and manage ARM’s events, membership, and operations teams. He also relies on his customer service skills to provide support to the other departments at ARM, allowing them to fulfill their strategic functions. David came to ARM with extensive experience in the nonprofit field, but enjoys the flexibility and variety offered by working at a smaller organization.
A Mississippi native, David now lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife. He enjoys touring historic sites near DC and has completed three marathons.
Rosie has always been a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion programs. As a first-generation college student, Rosie feels that internship and mentorship opportunities were vital in helping her to advance academically and professionally. She enjoys the opportunity to pay it forward, and has helped to create similar opportunities while in past roles working in higher education and with the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
As the Program Director for the GROW RegenMed Internship program, Rosie works with ARM members as well as institutes of higher education and non-profits that work with minority students, building relationships to make the program successful. Rosie enjoys learning about the innovative cell and gene therapy field, and feels that Black students have the potential to excel in the industry if given the right opportunities and exposure.
Rosie lives in Houston, Texas. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she began teaching hula hoop fitness classes as a way to stay active while outside and socially distanced.
Erica’s passion for patient advocacy led her to ARM. She joined in 2022 as the Director of Membership and Business Development and brings over 18 years of experience in the healthcare industry and nonprofit sector.
Erica was a device representative for Stryker Instruments, winning multiple president’s club awards for her sales performance. Most recently, she was a Clinical Oncology Specialist for Natera. Erica is proud to serve as a Donate Life Ambassador for The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland and is co-chair of The Decision Project. With her late husband John, she created the 2is10 Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to promote collaboration among health care providers and raise awareness and funds for rare disease treatments, transplants and organ donations. They are subscribers to Helen Keller’s belief that, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”
Raised in Richmond, Virginia, Erica now resides in Baltimore, Maryland with her two sons and enjoys rooting for them on the sidelines, staying active, traveling and gardening.
Email, social media, and seeing ads for something you just googled. Adam is fascinated with digital marketing – and directing it toward life-saving causes. Adam joined ARM in 2022 as the Communications Manager to connect people with our mission by communicating the transformative impact of cell and gene therapies.
Before joining ARM, Adam worked with a variety of humanitarian and community service organizations. His experience includes advocating for landmine clearance, supporting conflict resolution, and serving one year as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Habitat for Humanity.
Originally from Wisconsin, Adam currently resides in Washington, DC with his wife and two cats. He enjoys sports, traveling, reading, and helping put together Model United Nations conferences.
Becky’s life-long love of learning is what brought her to ARM. As a teacher, she attended business school in the evenings and on the weekends, where she took her first classes in accounting and discovered an interest in business and contract law. She handled the finances for a small non-profit providing assistance to veterans and worked for a small payroll company before joining the ARM team as the Staff Accountant.
At ARM, Becky’s strong attention to detail and unflappable nature allows her to juggle the many tasks – and many spreadsheets! – needed to manage the finances of a growing organization. ARM is the biggest place she’s worked, and she’s enjoyed the challenge of translating her skillset to address the needs of a larger organization. In her continual quest for knowledge, Becky has also enjoyed the chance to learn more about the cell and gene therapy sector and how it’s positioned to help patients.
Becky lives in Virginia and is a mom of four. She enjoys staying active, traveling, and is always game for new experiences, from competing in a triathlon to ziplining.
Elisabetta has spent more than 20 years working in European government affairs. She did not start off in the health policy arena – working instead on other areas including the environment and economic development – but became passionately interested in healthcare when working first with the UK National Health Service and later with the European Society of Cardiology.
Elisabetta is responsible for communicating ARM’s positions to European policymakers and raising awareness about the value that regenerative medicines and advanced therapies can provide to patients and healthcare systems. Because legislation is typically drafted by lawyers with a more general knowledge base, Elisabetta helps to bring specialized, frontline expertise to decision-makers. Her work builds on her extensive knowledge of European public affairs and her enthusiasm in knowing that she makes an impact with her job by helping therapies at the cutting edge of innovation reach patients in need.
As an Italian, who lived in different countries and works in Brussels for a US-based organization, Elisabetta encompasses the multicultural spirit of the EU. She likes staying active, and often goes on long runs with her dog.
