RALEIGH, N.C., AUGUST 17, 2018 — Merz today announced Kristina Yu-Isenberg, Ph.D., M.P.H, R.Ph., has been named Vice President of Medical Affairs North America, effective immediately. Dr. Yu-Isenberg oversees medical affairs in North America and is located in the Merz North America headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“Dr. Yu-Isenberg brings to Merz more than two decades of diverse medical affairs experience and a proven track record of leading innovative and high performing teams,” said Dr. Terri Phillips, vice president and head of global medical affairs at Merz. “I am confident her combined experience as a medical affairs leader, researcher and published author will help Merz maximize the clinical potential of our products and pipeline while improving patients’ health and quality of life.”
In her new role, Dr. Yu-Isenberg is responsible for leading the medical affairs strategy in the U.S., working closely with the Canada and Latin America teams. She reports to Dr. Phillips, who joined Merz in January 2018 to build and enhance the company’s medical affairs function.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Yu-Isenberg to Merz,” said Bob Rhatigan, CEO of Merz North America. “Dr. Yu-Isenberg joins our team of experienced executives and demonstrates Merz’s commitment to attracting top industry talent to help our patients live better, feel better and look better.”
“I am thrilled to join the team at Merz and have the opportunity to further link scientific, clinical and real-world evidence for positive patient outcomes,” said Dr. Yu-Isenberg. “Dr. Phillips has already made significant impact in building and enhancing Merz’s medical affairs function since joining the company earlier this year. I am looking forward to continuing the momentum to support her goals and bring high-quality scientific knowledge to educate health care providers, customers and patients about our comprehensive product portfolio.”
Prior to joining Merz, Dr. Yu-Isenberg served as head and vice president of evidence generation and analytics, global medical affairs at Intarcia Therapeutics. She began her industry career at GlaxoSmithKline and has taken on positions of increasing responsibility and scope within U.S. and global medical affairs teams, as well as in Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Biogen.
Dr. Yu-Isenberg received her Ph.D. in health services research from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She received a master’s degree in public health from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a bachelor’s degree in science from University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She is a registered pharmacist in North Carolina and served in the U.S. public health service as a lieutenant. As a research grant awardee of The National Institutes of Health, she has been acknowledged for innovation and high performance across multiple teams and organizations.
Dr. Yu-Isenberg is also the author of numerous publications on patient adherence and patient-reported outcomes, as well as comparative effectiveness, economic evaluations and real-world evidence. She is currently a member of the AARP Mayo Clinic Diabetes Quality Measure Working Group, has served as a member of the National Quality Forum Steering Committee for Ambulatory Care Measures and was co-chair of the Research Coordinating Council for the Pharmacy Quality Alliance.