Debra Lappin is a nationally renowned leader in health and research policy. Having served in advisory capacities to senior leaders of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration, she is a national spokesperson on the partnership between the federal research enterprise and the public it serves. She is a skilled facilitator of discussions on future directions for research and regulatory policy and public-private collaboration. 

During her decade of leadership of the life sciences consulting practice at Faegre Drinker Biddle and Reath, Debra represented clients forming public-private partnerships at the leading edge of innovation and patient engagement. Notably, she has forged the design and execution of multiple consortia in the area of Alzheimer’s, including the creation of the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (the first established clinical trial network for Alzheimer’s) and the Alzheimer’s Disease Patient and Caregiver Engagement (AD PACE) Initiative, a continuing high impact, patient-led consortia defining patient-focused drug development in Alzheimer’s. 

She served as the National Chair of the Arthritis Foundation and for over a decade as a member of the Board of Directors of Research!America. Today, she serves on the Board of Directors of Voices of Alzheimer’s and on the Board of Advisors for the Ludeman Family Center for Women’s Health Research at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Center in Denver.