Melissa Penn
Director, Patient Engagement, Research & Development Bayer
Melissa Penn is on a quest to improve health and quality of life. She became an attorney to gain the tools to impact disparities and health inequities and then obtained her MPH to learn the methodology to act on large scale health issues. From city attorney to managing the worlds first and largest cord blood stem cell program, founding and building a non-profit in hemophilia to her current job at Bayer in advocacy relations, as well as being the national co-lead for Bayer’s Business Related Group, ENABLE, for employees impacted by disabilities, the common thread is building and fostering partnerships to challenge the status quo, improve access and impact health.
Seminars
Wednesday 6th May 2026
Shaping Science Early: How to Capture & Measure Patient Impact in Preclinical Work
9:30 am
- Identifying the earliest decision points – modality, feasibility, value drivers – where patient input can reshape scientific assumptions
- Creating practical, visible ways to capture “what changed” as a result of early insight, not just how many touchpoints occurred
- Demonstrating how early engagement has reshaped research hypotheses, program priorities, and go/no-go decisions before assets enter formal development
