Edmund Pezalla, MD, MPH, is Aetna’s leading executive for issues related to pharmaceutical development, reimbursement strategy, and drug evaluation. He is active on projects in both the public and private sectors including: CDC and FDA as well as MIT’s Center for Biomedical Innovation. Recently Dr. Pezalla served as a consultant for the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology for their report: Propelling Innovation in Drug Discovery, Development and Evaluation. Dr. Pezalla is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Connecticut Innovations Biosciences Fund.

Dr. Pezalla is currently leading Aetna’s innovative partnership initiatives with device and pharmaceutical manufacturers including pay-for-performance and shared risk programs. Dr. Pezalla works closely with Aetna Pharmacy Management, Aetna Oncology Solutions, and Aetna Coverage Policy areas to develop comprehensive strategies for creating access to oncology drugs and the use of biomarkers and other tools to provide cost-effective solutions to the treatment of cancer and other serious conditions.

He is a graduate of Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, Georgetown University School of Medicine, and the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health. He completed his residency in Pediatrics at the Bethesda Naval Hospital and post-doctorate in Health Policy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.