Life Science Cares Philadelphia has welcomed Leo Russo, PhD, to its Board of Advisors, bringing more than 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in epidemiology and real-world evidence to the organization’s mission of mobilizing the life sciences sector against poverty in the Greater Philadelphia region.
About Leo Russo
An epidemiologist who has spent his career at the intersection of data, medicine, and patient care, Russo most recently served as Vice President and Head of Real-World Evidence & Epidemiology at Pfizer, where he led a department of more than 80 epidemiologists and real-world evidence scientists supporting clinical development and medical strategy across the company’s drug development process, operating within a $15 million budget. Over nearly 12 years at Pfizer, he also served as Senior Director, Patient Preference Elicitation, leading the company’s first regulatory submission of a patient preference study, and as Senior Director, Epidemiology, providing epidemiology support for programs including avelumab (Bavencio) and tanezumab.
Before Pfizer, Russo was Head of Epidemiology at Shire Pharmaceuticals (later acquired by Takeda), where he built the company’s epidemiology function from the ground up and led a multi-year community surveillance study on ADHD stimulant misuse that formed a core component of the FDA Risk Management Plan for Vyvanse. He also held epidemiology leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson and GSK, where he defended the benefit-risk profile of the smoking cessation product Zyban before regulators in Canada and France. Russo currently serves as a consultant to the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, a fractional Scientific Advisor to CounterX Therapeutics, and an Advisory Board Member at the GetReal Institute.
“The life sciences industry has shaped my life in many positive ways and opened my world to possibilities I had never imagined,” Russo said. “I have seen the spark in a young person’s eyes when they begin to recognize their potential through guidance and opportunity. I am honored to join Life Science Cares and advance its mission of giving talented students meaningful industry experience, and helping them see what might be possible for their own futures.”
Russo holds a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from The Ohio State University.
About Life Science Cares Philadelphia
Life Science Cares Philadelphia mobilizes the human and financial capital of the life sciences industry to combat poverty in the Greater Philadelphia area. Rather than operating as a traditional foundation, the organization connects biotech, pharma, and medtech companies of all sizes with vetted nonprofit partners focused on basic needs, education, and economic opportunity, emphasizing volunteerism and intellectual capital alongside financial grants.
