Keynotes

Kevin Young joined Gilead Sciences in September 2004 as Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations. Mr. Young has spent 20 years in the biopharmaceutical industry, first with Zeneca Pharmaceuticals (formerly ICI Pharmaceuticals) and more recently, Amgen Inc. During his 12 years at Amgen, Mr. Young held a number of positions in Europe and the United States. His most recent position was Head of the U.S. Inflammation Business Unit, leading the re-launch of Enbrel® following the acquisition of Immunex Corporation. Mr. Young has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Sports Science and Exercise from Liverpool and Nottingham, England and has completed the Executive Program at the University of Michigan, School of Business Administration.

Mary Ann Thode is President, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals (KFHP/KFH), Northern California Region. As Regional President, she is responsible for a health plan that serves more than 3 million members with 19 medical centers, 40 medical office facilities, 150 pharmacies, and 54,000 employees. KFHP/KFH, Northern California, is a fully integrated health care delivery system with annual revenues of 11 billion dollars. KFHP has an exclusive partnership with The Permanente Medical Group, the nation’s largest medical group.

Ms. Thode joined Kaiser Permanente in August, 1998 as Sr. Vice President and Service Area Manager for the Golden Gate Service Area where she was responsible for the operations of four medical centers. In January 1999, she became the Chief Operating Officer for Northern California and in July of 2002 was appointed President.

Before joining Kaiser Permanente, Ms. Thode was with Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) for 13 years. During her tenure at CHW, she served in a variety of positions including: Senior Vice President of Operations in Central and Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada, and COO and CEO of St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco. Previously in her career, Ms. Thode held administrative positions in both the not-for-profit and proprietary sectors of health care.

Ms. Thode is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and The American and California Bar Associations. She is a Director on the Board of Larkin Street Youth Center in San Francisco, Mercy Housing of California, California Region and the Advisory Board for the dual Master’s program in Business Administration and Public Health at UC Berkeley. In 1997, Mary Ann was named "Woman of the Year" by the Northern California chapter of the Women Healthcare Executives and one of “100 Most Influential Women in Business” by the San Francisco Business Times in 2003 and 2004.

Ms. Thode received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education from Holy Names College, her Master’s of Public Health from UC Berkeley and her Juris Doctorate from John F. Kennedy University. She is also a graduate of the Kaiser School of Nursing.

Dr. Craft is a medical doctor with extensive experience in infectious diseases, with an emphasis on pediatrics. He comes to MMV from Abbott Laboratories in the USA, where he served as Head of Drug Discovery and Development in the Anti-Infective Department. Dr Craft was recently elected a Member of the US Pharmacopeia’s International Health Expert Committee for the 2005 to 2010 cycle. MMV is a public private partnership funded by the Gates Foundation and is focused on medicines for the poorest populations in the developing world.