WHIS - Agenda

Eva Luo

Lucy Perez

Lucy is a Senior Partner in McKinsey’s Boston office. Lucy has 15+ years of experience advising CEOs and top teams at leading pharma, biotech and life sciences companies globally on growth strategy, innovation, sustainability, and organizational transformation.

Lucy co-leads McKinsey’s ESG domain and McKinsey’s All-In DEI efforts in North America.  She also sponsors the Hispanic Latino Network at McKinsey and leads our research efforts on health equity.

Lucy works extensively with number of biopharma and life science clients on broad range of topics, with recent focus on ESG/ sustainability, evidence generation, and digital/analytics programs to improve patient outcomes and support sustainable, inclusive growth.

Led efforts for a leading biopharma to define their ESG strategy, partnership strategy, and stakeholder engagement approach

Led efforts for a leading biopharma to embed health equity as a core principle in their R&D priorities and ways of working across the value chain

Led efforts to assess internal and external portfolio productivity and pricing models to optimize the R&D strategy and redesign the organization for a top pharmaceutical company

Led efforts for a leading biopharma to transform how it engages with customers through digital transformation, applying advanced analytics and embedding agile ways of working across their six largest markets that delivered $300M+ of near-term growth

Sponsor of McKinsey’s Early Stage Investor Conference, an annual event convening 200+ entrepreneurs and 1000+ investors interested in bio/med/health tech and sustainability innovation

Before joining McKinsey, Lucy was a research fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where she was involved in the development of novel treatments for solid tumors. She was also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute research fellow at Harvard University while completing her doctoral studies. She is co-inventor on multiple patents and has published in peer-reviewed journals.

Swathi Varanasi-Diaz

Dr. Swathi Varanasi-Diaz, known professionally as Dr. Swathi, is an award-winning pharmacist and integrative health expert passionate about the intersection of evidence-based medicine, consumer health, and healthcare innovation. As the Managing Director of Varanasi& Co., she leads a medical affairs and strategy consultancy that works with brands across women’s health, supplements, longevity, and personalized care.

Dr. Swathi is a recurring medical expert featured on television and radio, and has been cited in Forbes Health, Yahoo, Well+Good, , and mindbodygreen. She is also a faculty member and speaker at leading institutions and industry events. In 2023, she was named one of the 50 Most Influential Leaders in Pharmacy.

She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from the Medical University of South Carolina and her BA from Carleton College. Dr. Swathi completed the first-ever U.S. postdoctoral residency specializing in integrative medicine and preventive health, as well as a Medical Affairs fellowship and a clinical nutrition certificate from Cornell University.

Jennesa Atherton