Full Name
Heather H. Pierce JD, MPH
Job Title
Senior Director for Science Policy; Regulatory Counsel
Organization
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
Speaker Bio
Heather Pierce is Senior Director for Science Policy and Regulatory Counsel at the Association of American Medical Colleges and was the inaugural Director of Policy for the AAMC's Center for Health Justice. She served as the AAMC's acting Chief Scientific Officer from November 2023 until July 2024. She is AAMC's leader on scientific regulatory and policy issues including human subject protections, clinical research and clinical trial workforce, animal research, conflicts of interest, research data sharing, evidence-based regulation, diagnostic test development, and collaborations between industry, government, and academia in biomedical research. She is the subject matter expert for the AAMC's Forum on Conflict of Interest in Academe and for Convey, the AAMC's global financial interest disclosure system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the organization's activities and advice related to COVID-19 testing and test development and the regulatory aspects of approval and distribution for vaccines and treatments.
Pierce is the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) and was previously the Chair of the Board of Directors for Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R). She regularly speaks at national forums on issues related to the protection of human subjects, regulatory burden, research security, research ethics, biospecimens, scientific misconduct, and legislation and policymaking related to research, and has published articles and commentaries on these topics in Nature, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Milbank Quarterly, the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, and The American Journal of Bioethics. She has served on committees, working groups and task forces of organizations including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the National Dialogue on Healthcare Innovation.
Pierce received her law degree from NYU School of Law and her MPH in Health Law from Boston University.
Pierce is the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) and was previously the Chair of the Board of Directors for Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R). She regularly speaks at national forums on issues related to the protection of human subjects, regulatory burden, research security, research ethics, biospecimens, scientific misconduct, and legislation and policymaking related to research, and has published articles and commentaries on these topics in Nature, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Milbank Quarterly, the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, and The American Journal of Bioethics. She has served on committees, working groups and task forces of organizations including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the National Dialogue on Healthcare Innovation.
Pierce received her law degree from NYU School of Law and her MPH in Health Law from Boston University.
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