Donna M. O'Brien
Donna O’Brien is Manatt Health’s national advisor in the firm’s New York office. An experienced health care executive, she helps clients with strategic plans and facilitation of partnerships and she is a national thought leader on cancer program development and clinical trial capacity building and expansion.
Donna founded and serves as president of a consulting firm that supports health care projects for health systems, academic medical centers, research institutes and government agencies.
Donna’s prior executive experience includes serving as the executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Catholic Health Long Island, where she led the planning to form this integrated delivery system, and as an executive at MD Anderson Cancer Center. In her consulting work for the director of the National Cancer Institute, she supported the planning and implementation of community-based programs to advance cancer research and treatment across the country. She has served on many health care and managed care boards of directors across the country.
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Donna M. O'Brien
Donna O’Brien is Manatt Health’s national advisor in the firm’s New York office. An experienced health care executive, she helps clients with strategic plans and facilitation of partnerships and she is a national thought leader on cancer program development and clinical trial capacity building and expansion.
Donna founded and serves as president of a consulting firm that supports health care projects for health systems, academic medical centers, research institutes and government agencies.
Donna’s prior executive experience includes serving as the executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Catholic Health Long Island, where she led the planning to form this integrated delivery system, and as an executive at MD Anderson Cancer Center. In her consulting work for the director of the National Cancer Institute, she supported the planning and implementation of community-based programs to advance cancer research and treatment across the country. She has served on many health care and managed care boards of directors across the country.
Accomplishments
Speaker, “The Decentralized Trials Club on LinkedIn Live Audio – How can Academic Health Centers inject innovation back into clinical trial conduct?” The Decentralized Trials Club, October 2024.
Speaker, “Interdepartmental Collaboration within HealthCare Systems: Requirements to Enable and Sustain Patient Access to Clinical Trials,” Clinical Research as a Care Option Conference, September 2024.
Speaker, “Financial Barriers: Getting More Coverage for Patients in Clinical Trials,” Clinical Research as a Care Option Conference, September 2024.
Speaker, “Funding Considerations to Increase Representativeness in Clinical Trials,” 2024 Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, March 28, 2024.
Speaker, “Building community practices into a Clinical Trials Network,” NASEM Drug Forum, October 12, 2023.
Speaker, “How the Henry Ford Health System is Integrating Clinical Trials into Clinical Care Across their Entire System.” CRAACO: Clinical Research as a Care Option Conference, May 22–23, 2023.
Speaker, “Building a Business Case: Evaluating and Strategizing the Financial Economics of Clinical Care in the Research Setting,” CRAACO: Clinical Research as a Care Option Conference, May 22–23, 2023.
Co-presenter, “Advancing Value-based Care: Lessons from Three Community-based Health Systems,” American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress on Administration, March 16, 2015.
Presenter, “Effective Audit Committees,” Association of International Certified Professional Accountants Not-for-Profit Industry Conference, June 20, 2013.
Co-presenter, “Three Community Hospitals Address Healthcare Disparities through a Partnership with the National Cancer Institute,” American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress on Administration, March 12, 2013.
Co-presenter, “A Public Private Partnership Working to Address Healthcare Disparities,” The National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), 2012.
Co-presenter, “The NCI Community Cancer Centers Program: A Model for Reducing Cancer Healthcare Disparities,” General Poster Session Presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, June 2012.
Co-presenter, “Community Hospitals as a Research Resource,” Cancer Centers Administrators Forum, April 2, 2011.
Co-presenter, “The Community Hospital Journey to Personalized Medicine: Examples from a National Program,” American College of Healthcare Executives Congress on Administration, March 21, 2011.
Co-presenter, “Strategies and Benefits to Effectively Engage Minority Patients in their Cancer Care,” ASCO, June 2010.
Co-presenter, “Improving Cancer Care and Expanding Research in the Community; The NCI Community Cancer Centers Program,” Veterans Health Administration National Oncology Webinar Series, March 23, 2010.
Co-presenter, “Reconfiguring Healthcare for the Promise of Personalized Medicine,” Brown University, C.V. Starr Program for Commerce, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship, April 2009.
National Institutes of Health Director’s Award, 2009
Top 50 Business Women on Long Island Award, 2002
Member, Board of Trustees, College of the Holy Cross, 2020–present
Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives, 1994–present
Member, Board of Directors, International Cancer Expert Corps, 2015–present
Member, Board of Directors, Fidelis Care, 2016–18
Member, Board of Regents, Seton Hall University, 2007–16; Chair, Audit Committee, 2009–13; Member, Medical School Development Task Force, 2015; Member, University President Search Committee, 2009–10
Member, New York Governor’s Commission, Health Care Facilities for the 21st Century, 2005–06
Food and Drug Administration Special Government Advisor (SGE) for Risk Communication 2008–12; Member, Joint Cardiovascular & Renal and Drug Safety & Risk Management Advisory Committees, 2009
Member, Quality of Cancer Care Committee (QCCC) Program Review Panel, National Cancer Institute, 2008
Member, Board of Directors and Executive Committee, Christus Health System, 1999–2006; Chair, Executive Compensation/Human Resources; Member, Audit Committee; Chair, Information Technology Steering Committee; Member, Merger Steering Committee; CEO, Search Committee, 1998–99
Founding Member, Joint Planning Committee (Governing Body), Long Island Health Network, 1999–2004
Chair, Board of Trustees, Long Island Home/South Oaks Psychiatric Hospital, 1999–2004
Board Member, Operations Committee, MDNY Health Plan, 1997–2004
Trustee, Franciscan Health System (now Common Spirit), 1994–96
Member, New York City Mayor’s Task Force on Child Health, 1991–93
Trustee, Franciscan Eldercare Corporation, 1988–94
Senior Fellow, Accrediting Commission on Education for Health Services Administration, 1987–89
Co-author, "Trials and Tribulations: Strategies to Remove Barriers to Participation by Blood Cancer Patients in Clinical Trials and Advance the Next Frontier of Therapeutic Innovation," a white paper written with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, December 2023.
Featured, “Autumn 2023 Newsletter: How Are We Integrating Clinical Research and Clinical Care?,” CRAACO, October 4, 2023.
Co-author, “Achieving Diversity in Clinical Trials: Expanding Hospital Capacity to Offer Clinical Trials in the Community,” a white paper prepared for Manatt Health, August 2023.
Quoted, “As Value-Based Care Gains Popularity In Health Care, So Can In-Home Cancer Care,” Home Health Care News, February 14, 2023.
Quoted, “Diversity in Clinical Trials at FDA Gets a Boost From New Law,” Bloomberg Law, January 19, 2023.
Co-author, “Vital Access: How Policymakers Can Streamline the Cancer Care Journey,” The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, January 2023.
Co-author, “Positioning for Value-Based Cancer Care: Lessons and Opportunities for Health Systems and Oncology Service Lines,” Manatt Health, August 2022.
Co-author, "Achieving a Multilevel Evidence-Based Approach to Improve Cancer Care in the U.S. Post-COVID Era: The Role of Management," Journal of Cancer Policy, October 2021.
Co-author, "Surveying the challenges to improve LINAC-based RT in Africa: A unique collaborative platform of all 28 African countries offering such treatment," Clinical Oncology, June 2021.
Co-author, “Achieving flexible competence: Bridging the investment dichotomy between infectious diseases and cancer,” BMJ Global Health, December 2020.
Co-author, “Capturing acquired wisdom, enabling healthful aging and building multinational partnerships through senior global health mentorship,” Global Health: Science and Practice, Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Programs, December 2020.
Co-author, “How Vision and Leadership Shaped the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s 50-Year Journey to Advance the Evidence Base of Cancer Control and Cancer Care Delivery Research,” Health Policy OPEN, October 2020.
Co-author, “The Expanding Role of Cancer Control & the U.S. National Cancer Institute: Policy Implications for Global Cancer Care,” Journal of Cancer Policy, October 2019.
Co-author, “The Strategic Case for Establishing Public-Private Partnerships in Cancer Care,” Health Research Policy and Systems, October 14, 2015.
Co-author, “Managing Disruptive Change in Healthcare: Lessons from a Public-Private Partnership to Advance Cancer Care and Research,” Oxford University Press, August 2015.
Co-author, “Hospital-physician Alignment Drives Changes in Quality, Research, and Health Disparities at Community Cancer Centers,” American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), June 2014.
Co-author, “The Role of a Public-Private Partnership: Translating Science to Improve Cancer Care in the Community,” Journal of Healthcare Management, January/February 2014.
Co-author, “Using Networks to Increase Value in How to Get Better Value Cancer Care,” Offox Press, Chapter 9: 110–115, 2013.
Co-author, “Improving Cancer Care and Expanding Research in Community Hospitals: Lessons from the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program,” Oncology Issues, January/February 2011.
Co-author, “A New Approach to Improving Clinical Research and Cancer Care Delivery in Community Settings: Evaluating the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program,” Implementation Science, September 2009.
Co-author, “Translating Scientific Advances into the Community Setting: The National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program Pilot,” Oncology Issues, May/June 2009.
St. Louis University, M.H.A., 1982
College of the Holy Cross, B.A., Psychology, 1977
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