The CGHI Team is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Our leadership team sets the strategic direction of
the organization and supports our determination to improve health outcomes globally.
Kelly was a Trust Officer in the Trust Department of Trust Company Bank in Atlanta and then served first as Executive Director and then as President and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. At the Foundation, he helped create the Civic Renewal Project that highlights the work of outstanding community-based organizations, the “No Excuses” program to recognize and study high achieving, high poverty public schools, and helped lead Georgia’s criminal justice reforms that have become a national model.
In 2018, he joined the High Impact Network of Responsible Innovators, a venture philanthropy focused on launching nonprofit startups to solve big challenges in healthcare. During this time, he chaired the Healthcare Committee of the Georgia Innovates Task Force. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Healthcare Information Technology and the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, and as a mentor with the Creative Destruction Lab.
He has served on the boards of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association and Leadership Georgia. He was a co-founder and board chair of The Warrior Alliance and a co-founder and Governing Board Chair of Tech High, a math, science and technology-focused public charter school in Atlanta.
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Stephanie Adams, PhD
Managing Director, Office of Health Equity & Crisis Coordination
Dr. Adams has more than 20 years of experience in the Biotech and Pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, she served as a consultant with King and Spalding’s intellectual property counseling practice. As Senior Patent Agent, she worked with inventors, universities and biomedical companies to evaluate potential inventions for patentability and commercial value while developing and implementing appropriate strategies. Her management and prosecution of global patent portfolios for over a decade resulted in the issuance of dozens of patents. Stephanie’s expertise extends across a wide range of biotechnology areas, including molecular biology, neuroscience, immunology and vaccines.
Stephanie also served as Executive Director of Southeast Life Sciences (formerly Southeast BIO). As director of this regional nonprofit organization, she augmented the growth of the life sciences industry in the Southeastern U.S. through efforts that promoted entrepreneurship and brought together companies, investors, universities and support organizations.
She has been active in the Georgia and Southeastern life sciences communities for over twenty years, promoting its growth through involvement in industry organizations, events, speaking and client counseling. This promotion has extended into the community through a variety of science-based initiatives at local schools.
Stephanie obtained her Ph.D. from Emory University. Her research focused on the molecular biology of novel peptides involved in the central control of reward and satiety and was presented at numerous international symposiums and published in prominent scientific journals.
Edie Stringfellow is the Vice President of Ecosystem Development for the Center of Global Health Innovation (CGHI) where she is responsible for recruiting pioneering organizations to expand the innovative, entrepreneurial, and collaborative ecosystem of CGHI’s Global Health Innovation District b.k.a “The District;” a growing and thriving marketplace where the life sciences community works together to balance global and local priorities and perspectives. She is also developing programs to draw and engage district participants as well as the surrounding community in a manner that creates mutual value and advances the CGHI’s mission.
Edie takes pride in being ‘The Mayor’ of The District where its focus is ‘glocal’, combining global health expertise to produce local impact and beyond. She has made it her personal mission to create a culture where everyone is welcomed and an experience where risk takers and biomedical explorers can thrive as well as support world class organizations to solve health crises.
As Head of CGHI’s Innovation & Health Equity Office and Command Center (launching Q3 2022), Edie will work with numerous organizations via a transformational digital network to address health disparities in underserved and under-resourced populations. It will work in partnership with corporations to develop a process to help them understand their responsibility in achieving equity where they do business and within their workforce. The office will leverage its relationships to assist life science companies with increasing diversity in clinical trials and their talent pipelines. Additionally, she will provide strategic guidance to The Center’s workforce and crisis response units to ensure their programs and projects are equitable and accountable.
While at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Edie served as the Sr. Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Prior to MassBio, she was a Director of Patient Recruitment for a clinical research agency. Currently, The Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Awareness Advocate is on the Mass General Brigham Biobank / NIH All of Us Research Program Community Advisory Panel and the Medable Patient Advisory Council. She is also a member of the Vaccine Atlanta Outreach Initiative and a member of WITH (Women Innovating Together in Healthcare) global organization, Boston Chapter.
Before transitioning to the Life Sciences, Edie spent 15 years in Sports, Entertainment and Film and worked at ESPN as well as on projects for German Channel ZDF, Global Insight Pretoria S.A., and Toronto Sports Network. Due to life-changing events of losing loved ones to SCD complications, Edie embarked on a new career journey, committed to making an impact by passionately assisting organizations that work towards improving people’s lives. Edie splits her time between Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. When her schedule permits, she enjoys working on sports/film/music/theatrical productions related to STEM. She has a daughter that is Pre-Med at the University of Miami who is an inspiring neurosurgeon and screenwriter.
“Viruses have no boundaries, so neither should we. The diseases we fight are rare, but the opportunities to fight them shouldn’t be.” - Edie Stringfellow
Phil Gibson, Principal at PhilipGGibson Consulting, works to put qualified applicants together with opportunities. He has over 32 years of experience in technical education bringing industry together with an emerging workforce through designed preparatory systems. One of the most important of our challenges is to provide opportunity to those seeking it. We must make this a priority. He currently serves as Principal Investigator for a National Science Foundation grant for Implementation of an Industry-Recognized Credentialing System for Biotechnicians.
Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Center for Global Health Innovation; CEO, Medshare
Clark Dean
Executive Managing Director, Transwestern
Patricia Fritz
Vice President US Corporate Affairs, UCB, Inc.
Chaarles Fogelgren
Executive Director, Business Development, Quest Diagnostics
Shay Foley
General Manager, Alcon
Ross Mason
Founder, HINRI
Russell M. Medford, MD, PhD
Chairman and CEO, Covanos, Inc.
Anil Menon
EVP, Community & Urban Services, Sharecare
Mike Passilla
Vice-Chairman (fmr)
JP Morgan
Gary M. Reedy
Past Chair, Board of Directors, Center for Global Health Innovation;
CEO (fmr)
American Cancer Society
Bill Warren
Partner, Eversheds Sutherland
Board of Councilors
Paige Alexander, CEO, The Carter Center
Jeff Arnold, Chairman & CEO, Sharecare
Elizabeth “Liz” Blake, SVP of Advocacy & Government Affairs (Retired), Habitat for Humanity International
James Curran, MD, MPH, Dean of Public Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
General Larry Ellis, Four Star General, United States Army
Dan Gagnon, VP Global Healthcare Strategy, UPS Healthcare
David Hartnett, Chief Economic Development Officer, Metro Atlanta Chamber
Ed Heys, Managing Partner, Deloitte
Dennis Liotta, PhD, Executive Director, Emory Institute for Drug Development
Roth Kehoe, Partner, Holland & Knight
Vanessa Kerry, CEO, Seed Global Health
Rebecca Martin, VP for Global Health, Emory University; Director, Emory Global Health Institute
Hala Moddelmog, President and Chief Executive Officer, Woodruff Arts Center
Patty Obermaier, Vice President US Health & Life Sciences, Microsoft
Amb. Mary Ann Peters, President & CEO, The Carter Center (retired); Ambassador-in-Residence and Professor of Practice, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University
John Rice, Vice Chairman, GE
Valerie Montgomery Rice, Dean, Morehouse School of Medicine
Mark Rosenberg, President & CEO (Retired), Task Force for Global Health
Claire Sterk, President Emerita, Emory University
Louis Sullivan, President Emeritus, Morehouse School of Medicine, Chair
Henry Ting, MD, SVP and Chief Health & Wellbeing Officer, Delta Air Lines
Dave Wilkinson, CEO, Atlanta Police Foundation
Jacky Wright, Senior Partner, and Chief Technology & Platform Officer at McKinsey & Company
