CONAFAY GROUP - Key Persons
Aishat Magbade is a Project Manager at The Conafay Group with a background in public health policy, advocacy, and strategic partnerships.
Ms. Magbade's passion for public health and health equity began while she earned her undergraduate degree in Community Health from the University of Maryland. While there, she used community-based research to study disparities in cancer treatment at the Community Health Awareness, Messages and Prevention (CHAMP) lab. She focused on how faith-based messaging can lead to increased screening of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers in predominantly Black communities.
Ms. Magbade completed her practicum as an intern at the African American Health Program with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. During this time, she wrote curricula for maternal oral health and implanted an afterschool program focused on nutrition and physical exercise for children. Following her graduation, Ms. Magbade continued to gain health policy experience on a wide range of issues through internships at the Hepatitis Foundation International, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and the Better Medicare Alliance.
Following her internships, Ms. Magbade worked at the American Society for Microbiology where she managed federal grants on biosecurity, laboratory capacity, and antimicrobial resistance around the globe. She then worked at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) where she collaborated with 46 regional oncology societies to identify emerging issues affecting the practice of oncology and patient care. Ms. Magbade focused on finding avenues to strengthen ASCO's relationships with the state oncology societies and supported the societies' association management system.
Prior to joining The Conafay Group, Ms. Magbade worked at the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, where she managed committees focused on government relations and market access in the United States and Europe. Ms. Magbade also found opportunities to foster member engagement and form strategic partnerships with therapeutic developers, patient advocacy organizations, and other stakeholders to advance the cell and gene therapy sector and bring life changing therapies to those in need.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President
- BARDA As a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow
Brian has over a decade of experience in the development of medical products, with an emphasis on advancing technologies to strengthen national health security. His experiences span a variety of product types (drugs, biologics, devices, diagnostics), biomedical threat areas, and partnership models between the Federal government and private sector.
For 11 years, Brian served as a Project Officer in the Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority (BARDA). Within the Division of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Countermeasures, Brian led a variety of projects across its Antibacterial, Chemical, Radiological/Nuclear, and Thermal Burn programs. His projects spanned the preclinical and clinical stages of development, with several achieving FDA approval, licensure or clearance. He also supported several of BARDA's acquisitions through Project BioShield.
Brian played a critical role in establishing new investment portfolios at BARDA, including skin substitutes, blood products, and non-traditional antibacterials. The last six years of Brian's career at BARDA focused on addressing antimicrobial resistance though antibiotic development.
Brian also served as an interim Chief-of-Staff for the BARDA Director in 2017-2018, and has played key roles in several of BARDA's emergency responses, including supporting the launch of a vaccine clinical trial during the West African Ebola crisis and serving on the Operation Warp Speed Plasma Team during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brian first joined BARDA as a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in 2010. Prior to that, he also served as a Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences, developing public programming on climate change. He also previously served as teaching faculty at Harvard University's Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, where he created new scientific curriculum for non-science majors.
Formally trained as an organic chemist and chemical biologist, Brian earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at Harvard University as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow under Professor David R. Liu. Brian is also an alumnus of the University at Buffalo, where Brian earned a B.S. in chemistry/medicinal chemistry as a Distinguished Honors Scholar, graduating Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Originally from Long Island, NY, Brian currently lives in Washington, DC, where he spends time visiting museums, birdwatching on nature hikes, rooting for the Yankees, and enjoying the benefits of city life with his wife and dog.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Senior Vice President
Bryan Shuy has over 20 years of executive level policy and management experience including in Congress, in the federal government at HHS, and in the state legislature. His career has focused in appropriations, health care, biodefense, emergency response, and agricultural issues.
Prior to joining The Conafay Group, Mr. Shuy served as Chief of Staff to House Appropriations Agriculture & FDA Subcommittee Chairman, Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (R-MD). Bryan also worked for Dr. Harris as his Deputy Chief of Staff and handled his health portfolio including Dr. Harris' past role as Co-Chair of the House Doctors Caucus. He served Dr. Harris' office for three years before accepting a senior executive service appointment at the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), then later returned to work for Dr. Harris in 2021 as Chief of Staff.
At ASPR, Bryan served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec, MD from 2019 to 2021. There Bryan helped guide the policy, management, and execution of ASPR divisions and functions such as the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), and the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). Bryan also helped to lead the agency's initial Covid-19 response, including the development and execution of Operation Warp Speed and the SNS 2.0.
Prior to this federal service, Bryan worked in government affairs for physician specialty societies including the American Society of Anesthesiologists and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and as Chief of Staff to the Maryland State Senate Minority Leader Nancy Jacobs.
Bryan is a graduate of the University of Maryland College Park. He has served as a guest lecturer for public health and emergency response higher level classes at institutions such as Texas A&M and Pepperdine University.
Bryan is a Maryland Terrapins fan and resides in the Alexandria area with his wife and three children.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Senior Director of Federal Government Affairs for Genentech
Darin Gardner has 25 years of experience navigating Capitol Hill and various federal agencies both as staff on Capitol Hill as well as a pharmaceutical industry lobbyist. He specializes in infectious disease preparedness, pharmaceuticals, appropriations and all funding-related issues under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
In 2000, Mr. Gardner commenced working for Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), first on his personal staff, and later as a member of his committee staff on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. From 2002-2005, he worked for Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-TX) on issues ranging from health care, taxes, labor, education and appropriations issues as her Legislative Director and later in 2015 he returned to Granger's office as Chief of Staff.
In 2005, he became the Assistant Director for Federal Government Affairs for Roche being promoted to Director in 2007. He was responsible for managing issue related to the procurement of antiviral medications by the CDC Strategic National Stockpile, accessibility of Hepatitis C treatments for patients utilizing State ADAP programs, immunosuppressive drug coverage, as well as general pharmaceutical issues.
Following the Roche-Genentech integration in 2009, Mr. Gardner was promoted to Senior Director of Federal Government Affairs for Genentech responsible for leading the federal lobbying team. From 2010-2014, he worked on several company-specific and industry-wide issues including the metastatic breast cancer indication issue for Avastin, 340B drug discounting program, continued collaboration with the CDC's SNS on pandemic preparedness, and corporate tax issues.
Prior to joining The Conafay Group, Mr. Gardner was a partner for five years in a DC-based law and lobbying firm where he served clients ranging from a number of industries including technology, pharmaceuticals, transportation, defense and energy.
Darin Gardner was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He attended university at Ouachita Baptist University, studied abroad at Yantai University in China and graduated from Henderson State University in 1995.
Darin lives in Glenarden, Maryland with his wife Jane and teenage son. He played college baseball, is an avid fan of all Arkansas Razorbacks sports teams and as a holder of a Private Pilot license for almost 30 years, likes to fly experimental and sport category airplanes in his off time.
Dr. Erik Wolf has over 20 years of experience in medical research and development (R&D), with special expertise in military medical research. For the Conafay Group, he provides expertise in federal R&D programs as well as partnerships across government, academia, and industry.
Dr. Wolf spent 6 years (2015-2021) at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC). During his tenure, he was the Program Area Manager for the Neuromusculoskeletal Injury Rehabilitation Portfolio within the Clinical and Rehabilitative Medicine Research Program (CRMRP), where his responsibilities included the strategic planning and programmatic management of R&D efforts towards returning Warfighters to duty following musculoskeletal injury and achieving the highest possible function and quality of life following limb trauma and amputation. For a time, Dr. Wolf also served as the acting Civilian Deputy for CRMRP. Dr. Wolf completed detail assignments within the Plans, Programs, Analysis, and Evaluation (PPA&E) Directorate and the Office of the Principal Assistant for Research and Technology (OPAR&T) and served for one year as the Acting Director for the Medical Simulation and Information Sciences Research Program. These roles and responsibilities provided a broad range of understanding related to military medical R&D and valuable interactions with academic, industry and other federal partners.
Prior to his time at USAMRDC, Dr. Wolf worked as the Senior Research Biomedical Engineer for the Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence stationed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. There his research focused on optimizing function and performance of Warfighters with limb trauma and amputation.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Director of Biosurveillance and Diagnostics at MRIGlobal
Dr. Eric Van Gieson has over 25 years of experience in developing medical technology in diagnostics and critical care with leadership roles in industry, academia, and government. At The Conafay Group, he uses his skills in building partnerships with the U.S. Government and industry to ensure a rapid transition of early-stage biotechnology platforms to end users.
Dr. Van Gieson's career in the federal government began in 2003 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), where he served as Program Manager and Principal Professional Staff. After seven years at JHUAPL, he joined the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as a Senior Science and Technology Manager where he served as Chief of the Diagnostics, Disease Surveillance, and Threat Detection division.
In 2014, Dr. Van Gieson became Director of Biosurveillance and Diagnostics at MRIGlobal and later joined the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska as Chief Technology Officer. During his time at both institutions, Dr. Van Gieson worked together with private and interagency partners to develop a novel patient transport system, known as the Containerized BioContainment System (CBCS). This platform ultimately received an R&D 100 Award, and multiple federal agencies have used it to transport patients from both the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks.
After nearly two years at NSRI, Dr. Van Gieson served as a Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). During his five years with the Agency, Dr. Van Gieson initiated programs to use host-based methods to mitigate the impacts of emerging diseases, as well as to optimize human performance. These programs enabled a new diagnostic paradigm that harnesses the epigenome with AI-based biological pathway analyses and led to new technologies that can both diagnose and prognose diseases, guide healthcare decisions, and enable the discovery of new medical therapies. Dr. Van Gieson's DARPA work also created programs to prevent traumatic brain injury with molecular prophylaxes.
Dr. Van Gieson worked to commercialize the technology emerging from his programs at DARPA. These commercialization efforts have led to >$100M in commercial and private investment in DARPA technologies to ensure their transition to both commercial and public/military applications.
Dr. Van Gieson received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia. He has publications on topics ranging from genomic analysis to unmanned systems autonomy and has served as the Chief Judge on the Nokia Sensing XChallenge and a Judge on the Qualcomm Tricorder XChallenge. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, wrenching on old cars, wing foiling, mountain biking, and snowboarding.
Providing more than a two decade's experience supporting Members of Congress, heads of practice at a national law firm, and part of a management team of a non-profit, Erica Woodward assists with The Conafay Group's administrative operations and team missions.
Trusted, discrete, and detail-focused, Ms. Woodward coordinates client fly-ins and outreach to Capitol Hill, along with planning and executing internal and external events. In addition, Ms. Woodward oversees The Conafay Group's federal lobbying disclosures and compliance.
Prior to initially joining The Conafay Group, Ms. Woodward was a member of the federal government affairs and public policy practice for Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips, LLP. Prior to Manatt, she served for nearly a decade on Capitol Hill, where she maintains strong bipartisan congressional relationships. During her tenure as senior aide to two dynamic Congressmen in the California delegation, Ms. Woodward worked with the House Agriculture, Rules, Natural Resources, and Foreign Affairs Committees as well as with the Blue Dog and Congressional Hispanic Caucuses. Most recently, she was part of the management team of a local non-profit in the greater Charleston, South Carolina area where she assisted with pandemic precautions and preparations for a major renovation.
Born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, Erica is a graduate of Centre College, with a Bachelors of Arts degree in International Relations focused on Latin American and African studies. She resides with her husband and golden retriever in Charleston, South Carolina.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director With the
Evangeline "Evie" Smith is a Director with The Conafay Group. Having joined the team in 2015, Evie has extensive experience assisting clients to develop and execute comprehensive strategies for targeted engagement with the federal government. Evie is passionate about supporting novel, innovative medical solutions to address major health challenges and promote health equity.
In her time at The Conafay Group, Evie has assisted a variety of industry and academic clients to secure federal funding from agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to advance their medical research. Strategy building for these clients involves enhancing messaging, guiding interactions with key funding entities, promoting collaboration with outside partners, and optimizing grantsmanship to increase alignment to the needs of the government. In addition, Evie serves as the manager for one of The Conafay Group's coalitions, fostering unity among diverse stakeholders to achieve common goals in market access for advanced cancer patients. She has experience in health policy analysis and Congressional engagement.
Jessica Kenyon has more than 20 years of experience with the development of advanced medical technology, with special expertise in federal research and acquisition. For the Conafay Group, she provides expertise in federal R&D programs as well as in partnerships across government, academia, and industry.
For five years, Jessica served as Vice President for Health and Life Science Programs at American Defense International, Inc., where she advised numerous corporate, academic, and non-profit clients, both domestic and international, on their federal engagement strategy, particularly with the Department of Defense (DoD).
Jessica came to the private sector with more than 10 years of experience in the oversight, planning, and management of DoD medical research and development (R&D) programs in multiple technical domains. From 2001 to 2011, she served in several capacities at the U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), where she played a central role in developing a portfolio of medical research to deliver critical medical technologies to the warfighter. Jessica served as the Director of TATRC's West Coast Satellite Office in Marina del Rey, California, where she worked to build strategic partnerships among government, academia, and industry in order to foster successful military medical R&D. In addition, she established and funded competitive research programs to promote, support, and accelerate university-based, military-relevant medical research and entrepreneurship in Southern California. Before taking the reins of TATRC West, Jessica served as Congressional Liaison at TATRC's headquarters office, a role that required her to interface with Congressional staff and understand and communicate all aspects of proposal selection, funding, and product development processes within the Army as well as the tri-service realm.
Since 2003, Jessica has been an avid endurance athlete, having completed 12 marathons and many other running events, as well as more than 20 triathlons, including Ironman Cozumel in 2009. Born and raised in Frederick, Maryland, Jessica graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University, and earned her Master of Arts from Bryn Mawr College.
Josh Narrow supports The Conafay Group's policy, coalition, and non-dilutive funding teams. He has been with the firm for over five years, starting as an intern and developing a growing interest in the intersection of health policy and biotech/pharma funding. Today, he serves as manager to four of The Conafay Group's coalitions and works with the federal lobbying team on Congressional and Administrative engagement, allied development, and policy & regulatory analysis.
Prior to his joining The Conafay Group, Josh gained experience in both the public and private sectors. After working on several local political campaigns, he interned in the DC office of Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, assisting the Senator's health staff. Following this program, Josh was hired as a communications strategist for a startup DC strategic communications firm, where he developed earned media strategies for a wide variety of companies, including one of the United States' largest human resources advocacy groups. He has also had the opportunity to provide data consultation services to political campaigns on the local, state, and federal level.
Josh graduated cum laude from The Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University, with a concentration in global public health.
With more than three decades of experience in Washington, D.C., Julie Pawelczyk serves as a legislative advocate on behalf of multiple corporate and nonprofit clients. She has extensive experience working with companies developing medical therapeutics and technology, as well as organizations focused on health and education policies, including patient advocacy groups, medical research companies, academic medical centers and child protection programs. In addition, Ms. Pawelczyk runs a coalition advocating in support of the traumatic brain injury (TBI) community.
She began her Washington career as staff to Rep. Jack Davis (R-IL), before joining several different lobbying firms where she represented nonprofit clients with interests in elementary and higher education, health services, and scientific research - including biomedical and behavioral research. For the last 20+ years, her advocacy efforts have focused on federal budget and appropriations.
Ms. Pawelczyk received her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She also holds a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, with a concentration in social and public policy, from Georgetown University.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager
- Project Manager With the
Kristen Lafayette is a Project Manager with The Conafay Group with a background in psychology, public policy, and local government relations.
As a Project Manager, Ms. Lafayette supports both non-dilutive funding clients and policy clients. In her role, Ms. Lafayette also serves as Coalition Manager for the National TBI Registry Coalition (NTRC). She has been with The Conafay Group for nearly three years now and enjoys engaging with clients across the life sciences spectrum.
Prior to working at The Conafay Group, Ms. Lafayette spent her time working for local government offices in the City of Richmond and County of Henrico in Virginia. From these experiences, Ms. Lafayette has gained knowledge of research and data analysis, local government relations, and project management.
Ms. Lafayette earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Virginia. She also earned her Master of Public Policy from University of Virginia at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Ms. Lafayette brings her interest in government relations and experience in public policy to The Conafay Group. In her free time, she can be found exploring the DC area, cheering on Boston sports teams, and practicing yoga.
Marily H. Rhudy has more than 40 years of professional experience in the pharmaceutical industry managing high impact public affairs initiatives, government relations programs and corporate communications activities. She has experience leading non-profits as well as public service in the federal government. She has created and lead corporate affairs in several large and small pharmaceutical companies.
For fifteen years, Ms. Rhudy led the corporate public affairs function at then-Wyeth in Madison, N.J. She served as senior vice president of public affairs for Wyeth with responsibility for state, federal and international government affairs; public policy; alliance development and corporate communications, including brand management, crisis and media relations; community relations; and strategic philanthropy. Her responsibilities also included leading the company's advocacy with trade associations like the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). She served on the Wyeth Management and Operations Committee, the senior governing body for the company, reporting to the company's chairman and CEO. Her public affairs staff included 100 professionals.
After retiring from Wyeth in 2008, Ms. Rhudy launched a public affairs consulting practice assisting established as well as nascent pharma companies in improving their effectiveness in public affairs and government relations. She joined The Conafay Group as executive vice president in 2009 where she leads the strategy and policy teams for clients.
Over a ten-year period, Ms. Rhudy served as chairman of the board, president, treasurer and trustee of the American Pharmaceutical Association, a Washington, D.C.-based professional membership organization representing 60,000 pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. Prior to her position at Wyeth, Ms. Rhudy was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the White House Task Force on Health Care Reform in 1993.
Ms. Rhudy graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy and was named a distinguished alumna in 1998. She was subsequently inducted into the University of Kansas Women's Hall of Fame in 2014. She is the proud mother of 7 adult children and grandmother of 15 adorables.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Brookings Institute Congressional Fellow
- Cubist Pharmaceuticals As the Vice President for Government Affairs
Mark Battaglini, J.D., is an experienced global corporate affairs and U.S. Government payer professional with over thirty years of experience in the industry. Mr. Battaglini's career has included senior executive positions at some of the world's largest and most innovative pharmaceutical companies.
Mr. Battaglini began his career in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General Corp where he was Honorably Discharged in the Navy Reserves at the rank of Lieutenant Commander in 2000. After his time in the military, Mr. Battaglini joined the Schering-Plough Corporation's commercial division in 1991 and eventually became the Director of State Government relations for the company. Following eleven years with Schering-Plough, Mr. Battaglini briefly worked at Pharmacia before being appointed Senior Director of Government Affairs at Amylin Pharmaceuticals.
In 2007, Mr. Battaglini joined Cubist Pharmaceuticals as the Vice President for Government Affairs and oversaw the company's policy and legislative efforts in global markets. He worked at Cubist for eight years before joining his most recent employer, bluebird bio. While at bluebird, Mr. Battaglini headed the Global External Affairs & U.S. Government Payer department where he oversaw the company's global communications, patient-advocacy, government affairs and State Healthcare Program functions. Mr. Battaglini was also tasked with starting bluebird bio Italy S.r.l and acted as the subsidiary's Interim General Manager.
Mr. Battaglini is a former Brookings Institute Congressional Fellow and was assigned to former U.S. Senator Michael Enzi's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee staff. He received a B.S. in Management from Boston College (Magna Cum Laude) and holds a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law.
Mr. Battaglini is currently on the Board of Directors for The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) and Public Affairs Council (PAC). Mr. Battaglini 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.
Monica Heil is the Director of Operations for The Conafay Group. She is bringing her detail-oriented skills and knowledge of Capitol Hill to the day-to-day operations of The Conafay Group.
Prior to joining The Conafay Group, Monica completed 25 years of dedicated service on Capitol Hill to three Members of Congress. She spent over seven years as Director of Operations for a Member in the United States House of Representatives and eighteen years serving two Members of the United States Senate in the same capacity. Monica worked quietly behind the scenes providing comprehensive support for all administrative functions within a Congressional office including budgeting, personnel management, setting office policies and procedures, liaising with committees, and for the last eleven years organizing the only bipartisan Senate Members BBQ luncheon!
Since her son's diagnosis with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in 2003, Monica and her husband have worked tirelessly with the Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne to raise funds for research and increase awareness of this devasting genetic disorder.
Monica was born and raised in Lancaster, Ohio and graduated cum laude from Ohio University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a concentration in secondary mathematics. Monica, her husband and two children call Arlington, Virginia home.
Nora Sanzo, MPH, is a Director at The Conafay Group with experience in healthcare campaign development, coalition management, federal grant management, and advocacy communication.
Ms. Sanzo began her professional career in health communication with Porter Novelli, where she developed an interest in health advocacy and stakeholder engagement while working with oncology patients and their representatives to develop interactive educational events. During her time there, she also gained extensive experience helping execute national healthcare campaigns for the federal government, leading earned and digital media efforts.
Before joining The Conafay Group, Ms. Sanzo served as a Research Manager at the University of North Carolina's Comprehensive Cancer Center where she was responsible for managing R01 grants focused on youth vaping prevention. In this role, Ms. Sanzo led study recruitment efforts, community advisory board communication, and other project management responsibilities. Additionally, she cultivated and maintained relationships with national tobacco control practitioners as well as federal program officers.
Ms. Sanzo earned a bachelor's degree from The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs and a master's degree in Public Health Communication from The George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health. As a native Texan, born and raised in Dallas, she will never miss a Cowboys game. Ms. Sanzo has been a competitive powerlifter for over 5 years and continues to compete locally and nationally.
Steve Conafay has 50 years of leadership and management experience in government relations, public policy and communications. As the sole principal at The Conafay Group, he oversees all client servicing. He and his life partner, Marily Rhudy consider their assembly of The Conafay Group's team as one of the greatest achievements of their careers.
For 12 years, Mr. Conafay was vice president of government relations for Pfizer, where he was elected as a corporate officer in 1984. He served as senior vice president of corporate affairs for Glaxo Inc., where he was also a member of the Board of Directors. After heading the legislative practice for Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue, the world's second largest law firm, he was tapped by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) to assume the No. 2 position of executive vice president of strategic and legislative affairs. He also served as an executive fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the leading free market think tank in the U.S. After moving to the New York area, Mr. Conafay joined Shandwick, where he assumed several positions of increasing responsibility, culminating with his appointment as chief executive officer for The Americas-East in 2000. In 2012, he be founded The Conafay Group, and maintains an active role in its management, as a player-coach
Mr. Conafay is a lawyer and a decorated Vietnam veteran. He served as a combat infantry platoon leader and was awarded the Silver Star (the 3rd highest award for heroism under fire), Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal (for participating in 25 combat assaults) and the Army Commendation Medal, among others. He is also an avid golfer and has been a member of Congressional Country Club for over 40 years. Mr. Conafay is a lifelong fan of Giants baseball, dating back to when Willie Mays and Monte Irvin roamed the outfield in the Polo Grounds. To stay fit, he is a Concept 2 (erg) rower, where he maintains an international ranking in over 6 events. In the recent, 2024 National Indoor Rowing Championships, he captured 2nd place (Silver medal) for his age group in the 500-meter event.
William A. Franco has more than 30 years of experience working with the federal government, national trade associations and corporate government affairs programs in both state and federal relations. Mr. Franco currently serves as a government affairs advisor to The Conafay Group, focusing primarily on healthcare and biopharmaceutical policy issues.
Mr. Franco began his career in Washington, D.C. as a legislative assistant to Congressman Daniel E. Lungren (R-Calif.). He received a presidential appointment from the Reagan Administration in 1986 as a special assistant and congressional liaison for the United States Information Agency and continued this role with the George H.W. Bush Administration. Mr. Franco continued his career in government affairs with the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), American's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Merck & Co. Inc. Prior to his current work with The Conafay Group, he was head of Washington operations and government affairs for Amylin Pharmaceuticals and head of policy for Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Mr. Franco holds a bachelor's degree in political science from California State University, Long Beach and is certified as a Professional, Healthcare Management from the Academy for Healthcare Management. He is an avid runner, having completed 21 marathons in the U.S. and Europe since 1993, as well as the 2010 Lake Placid, 2016 France and 2017 Mont Trem Blant, Canada Iron Man triathlons.