Panelists

Diana W. Bianchi, MD

DIRECTOR

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Diana W. Bianchi is the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). She oversees an annual budget of  $1.7 billion in support of NICHD’s mission to lead research and training to understand human development, improve reproductive health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all. Dr. Bianchi also heads the Prenatal Genomics and Therapy Section for the Medical Genetics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Dr. Bianchi received her M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine and her postgraduate training in Pediatrics, Medical Genetics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Bianchi’s research focuses on prenatal genomics with the goal of advancing noninvasive prenatal DNA screening and diagnosis. 

Prior to NICHD, she was the founding Executive Director of the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center as well as the Natalie V. Zucker Professor of Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and Gynecology at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Bianchi also was the Vice Chair for Pediatric Research at the Floating Hospital for Children and a former council member of the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) and the American Pediatric Society. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2013.

Dr. Bianchi’s awards include the 2015 Neonatal Landmark Award (American Academy of Pediatrics), the 2016 Maureen Andrew Award for Mentorship (SPR), and the 2017 Colonel Harland Sanders Award for lifetime achievement in Medical Genetics (March of Dimes). In 2020, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Amsterdam and the Health Public Service Visionary Award (Society for Women’s Health Research). Dr. Bianchi was a finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal in 2022 and honored as a Forbes 50 over 50 awardee.

Sandhya Rao, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Senior Vice President

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

Dr. Sandhya Rao is chief medical officer and senior vice president for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the largest private health plan in Massachusetts and one of the largest independent, not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in the country.

Sandhya is responsible for the strategic direction and ongoing operation of our health and medical management and pharmacy divisions, focused on improving the quality, outcomes and affordability of health care provided to our members.

Sandhya joined Blue Cross in December 2020, and she provides extensive population health management experience leading to innovative delivery solutions and unique insights into what employers want in their health plans.

Previously, she served as vice president of clinical strategy at Haven, the health care organization formed by Amazon, JP Morgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway. Before joining Haven, Sandhya was senior medical director for population health management at Partners Healthcare. She also served as associate medical director of the Mass General Physicians Organization, and as a business analyst at McKinsey and Co. Her clinical experience includes practice as a primary care provider at Massachusetts General Hospital and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Sandhya earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in public health from Brown University and her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Neel Shah

Chief Medical Officer

Maven

More information coming soon.