As Dallas' premier hub of life science and social impact, Pegasus Park offers state-of-the-art facilities and amenities enabling the daily convergence of entrepreneurs, strategic business partners, social impact organizations, and North Texas’ biotech ecosystem.

Pegasus Park's Speaker Series features local and national thought leaders, including Sarah Friar (CFO, OpenAI) and Dr. David Fajgenbaum (Cofounder, Every Cure). Up next, we are pleased to feature a panel of experts who have been on the frontlines of health policy: Dr. Amy Abernethy (Cofounder, Highlander Health), as well as former FDA Commissioners Dr. Mark McClellan and Dr. Robert Califf. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Brad Hirsch (Cofounder, Highlander Health).

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Dr. Amy Abernethy:

Amy is cofounder of Highlander Health, with a healthcare career marked by changemaking in organizations ranging from Flatiron Health to Duke University School of Medicine and Verily. Prior to Verily, Amy served as the principal deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 2019-2021. Her board roles span public companies such as athenahealth and CareDx to private firms including insitro and Georgiamune. In addition to her standard setting and innovation work, Amy is a hematologist/oncologist, palliative medicine physician, and author of over 500 publications and counting.

Dr. Mark McClellan:

Mark McClellan was sworn in as Commissioner of Food and Drugs in 2002, following Senate confirmation by unanimous consent.

Previously, he was Associate Professor of Economics at Stanford University, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford Medical School, a practicing internist, and Director of the Program on Health Outcomes Research at Stanford University. He was also a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Additionally, he was a Member of the National Cancer Policy Board of the National Academy of Sciences, Associate Editor of the Journal of Health Economics, and co-Principal Investigator of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a longitudinal study of the health and economic well-being of older Americans. From 1998-99, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, where he supervised economic analysis and policy development on a wide range of domestic policy issues.

During 2001 and 2002, Dr. McClellan served in the White House. He was a Member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, where he advised on domestic economic issues. He also served during this time as a senior policy director for health care and related economic issues for the White House.

Dr. McClellan's research studies have addressed measuring and improving the quality of health care, the economic and policy factors influencing medical treatment decisions and health outcomes, estimating the effects of medical treatments, technological change in health care and its consequences for health and medical expenditures, and the relationship between health and economic well-being. He has twice received the Arrow Award for Outstanding Research in Health Economics. He earned his MD degree from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and his PhD in Economics from MIT. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and he is board-certified in Internal Medicine.

Dr. McClellan is married and has two daughters.

Dr. Robert Califf:

Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC, was the Commissioner of Food and Drugs from 2016 to 2017, as well as from 2022 to early 2025. As the top official of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Califf was committed to strengthening programs and policies that enable the agency to carry out its mission to protect and promote the public health. Previously, Dr. Califf served as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco from 2015 until his appointment as Commissioner in 2016.

Prior to joining the FDA, Dr. Califf was a professor of medicine and vice chancellor for clinical and translational research at Duke University. He also served as director of the Duke Translational Medicine Institute and founding director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute. A nationally and internationally recognized expert in cardiovascular medicine, health outcomes research, healthcare quality, and clinical research, Dr. Califf has led many landmark clinical trials and is one of the most frequently cited authors in biomedical science, with more than 1,200 publications in the peer-reviewed literature.

Dr. Califf became a Member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly known as the Institute of Medicine (IOM)) in 2016, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. Dr. Califf has served on numerous IOM committees, and he has served as a member of the FDA Cardiorenal Advisory Panel and FDA Science Board's Subcommittee on Science and Technology. Dr. Califf has also served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Library of Medicine, as well as on advisory committees for the National Cancer Institute, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Council of the National Institute on Aging.

While at Duke, Dr. Califf led major initiatives aimed at improving methods and infrastructure for clinical research, including the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI), a public-private partnership co-founded by the FDA and Duke. He also served as the principal investigator for Duke's Clinical and Translational Science Award and the NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory coordinating center.

Dr. Califf is a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and a fellowship in cardiology at Duke.

Dr. Brad Hirsch:

Brad is cofounder of Highlander Health, and an oncologist, trialist, entrepreneur, and product leader dedicated to driving transformation at the intersection of research and care. He most recently led product at Verily, which he joined upon Verily’s acquisition of SignalPath, a clinical research technology company he founded and led as CEO. In addition to past roles at Flatiron Health, Texas Oncology, US Oncology, and Duke University, Brad gives his passion and leadership to a wide range of philanthropic organizations including the National Outdoor Leadership School.

Pegasus Park Speaker Series: Insights from the Frontlines of Health Policy