Advisory Board

Each CCC Regulatory Compliance Test (RCT) is reviewed by Members of the Advisory Board to ensure that it is comprehensive, practical, and up-to-date. The Board, which is composed of leaders in FDA regulations, government guidelines, and voluntary industry codes, includes former FDA officials and regulatory lawyers in pharmaceutical and medical device companies and from independent consulting and law firms. All CCC Regulatory Compliance Tests have been designed by educational experts. Please note that the Regulatory Compliance Tests are the sole responsibility of CCC itself.

Members of the CCC Advisory Board

Ilyssa Levins, President and Founder

llyssa Levins is president and founder of the Center for Communication Compliance (CCC), a boutique consultancy that specializes in healthcare risk communication and regulatory compliance, from drug development to sales and marketing.

Ilyssa has 30 years of healthcare communications experience, having spearheaded significant growth for Grey Global Group, one of the world's foremost communications firms. Over a period of two decades with Grey, her entrepreneurial accomplishments included launching the BrandEdge marketing consultancy, catapulting Grey's healthcare public relations (PR) practice to a top 10 global ranking, and leading a PR boutique, GTFH, to be named #1 in healthcare two years in a row.

Early in her career, Ilyssa recognized that regulatory compliance was an under-served area in the healthcare communication profession. In 1991, she founded the PR section of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication, an industry advocacy group focused on FDA regulatory policy and enforcement. However, there continued to be an unmet need for a standardized regulatory compliance curriculum for promotional agencies. Her priority upon leaving the corporate world was to establish a center for learning where regulatory compliance was a key focus.

To fill this industry need, Ilyssa founded CCC and launched the first standardized training courses, with corresponding certification tests, to enhance regulatory compliance in advertising/promotion, promotional medical education, and public relations. Most recently, the company identified other unmet needs: the first pertains to the need for increasing the role of communication professionals in the development and execution of Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) components; the second, to the need for a basic course on drug development with a focus on clinical trials for professionals new to the pharmaceutical, biotech, and device industry.

Ilyssa is an industry spokesperson and a published author on regulatory compliance healthcare communication. She was the only healthcare executive to be named a Women Achiever of the Year by the YWCA of New York for the class of 2000, and is a Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) Rising Star. Her Board memberships include the HBA, where she served as Director of Marketing Communication, Director of Business Development, and Director for Strategic Alliances. She is currently Director of HBA Awards, for which she oversees two signature events (ACE Award and Rising Stars).

Ilyssa graduated Phi Beta Kappa from New York University with a degree in journalism and minors in public relations and Spanish.  
Wayne Pines, Chair of the CCC Advisory Committee
Wayne Pines is a nationally recognized expert on regulatory aspects of healthcare advertising and promotion. Wayne served at the FDA for 10 years as chief of consumer education and information, chief of press relations, and associate commissioner for public affairs. He was the FDA’s chief spokesman to the media for seven years, and was the founding editor of its consumer magazine. In 2004, Wayne was named FDA’s Alumnus of the Year.

Wayne has been published widely on regulatory and crisis management topics. He is the author of the FDA Advertising and Promotion Manual, the standard reference in the field. Wayne has taught graduate-level courses in PR and frequently speaks at educational symposia. He has chaired the annual advertising meetings for both the Drug Information Association and the Food and Drug Law Institute since 1989, and has been given each organization’s highest award. Wayne is a graduate of Rutgers University.
Tracy Acker – PharmD
Tracy Acker, PharmD, is President of The Acker Group LLC, a consultancy specializing in promotional regulatory affairs for medicinal products. From 1995-2000, Tracy served as Branch Chief in the Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) at FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). After leaving DDMAC, she worked as Director of Regulatory Affairs for Advertising and Promotion at Johnson & Johnson. Tracy most recently served as Executive Director of the Regulatory Promotion Group at Amgen. Previously, Tracy worked as a Regulatory Affairs Analyst in the FDA Practice Group at Reed Smith LLP. Tracy is an oncology subject matter expert and registered pharmacist.
Lewis Amsel, PhD
Lewis P. Amsel Ph.D. is President of Pharmaceutical Consulting Services, Inc., a consultancy specializing in drug formulation and development, including manufacturing scale-up and process optimization. Formerly with Watson Pharmaceuticals as VP of Pharmaceutical Technology, Dr. Amsel has also held positions at Searle/Pharmacia/Pfizer as Executive Director of Worldwide Pharmaceutical Technology. His areas of expertise include drug formulation and development, OTC product development, reformulation of existing products to enhance market share, cGMP issues, and regulatory affairs support to the drug development and manufacturing processes, including submission of applications for investigational new drugs and NDAs to the FDA. Dr. Amsel holds a PhD degree from the School of Pharmacy at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Alan R. Bennett, JD
Alan Bennett is managing partner in the Washington office of Ropes & Gray and formerly was co-chair of its Life Sciences Group. He focuses on issues surrounding the development and marketing of medical products. His publications include The Legislative History of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act, and articles on the Orphan Drug Act and the Hatch-Waxman Act. He served in the FDA General Counsel’s Office and was legislative assistant to the late Sen. Jacob Javits and Counsel to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.
Glenn N. Byrd, MBA, RAC
Glenn N. Byrd is a Director of Regulatory Affairs at MedImmune, where he leads the Advertising and Promotion team. His background includes several years in private industry and more than 10 years at the FDA, including as the Chief of the Advertising and Promotional Labeling Branch (APLB) in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), where he managed the team responsible for regulatory review and enforcement of advertising and promotional labeling for biologic drugs and devices.
Tom Chakraborti, MD, MB BS
Tom Chakraborti is an attorney registered in England and Wales specializing in pharmaceutical law, including regulatory compliance. After training as a doctor at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School (part of the University of London) Tom worked as a physician at various NHS hospitals in England. He then trained as a solicitor at the prestigious international law firm, Slaughter and May. Tom has held a global position with Novartis as Senior Legal Counsel and an international position at Gilead Sciences Europe Ltd, as a Director within its international legal department, with responsibility for promotional compliance. He has also acted as a legal consultant to leading global pharmaceutical companies and been a member of Sidley Austin's European life sciences team.
Mark E. DuVal, JD
Mark E. DuVal is President of DuVal & Associates in Minneapolis. He counsels companies on FDA issues. Previously, he was an in-house FDA, Anti-Kickback, and False Claims Act expert for Medtronic business units and Division Counsel for 3M Pharmaceuticals and Drug Delivery Systems. He is on the boards of the Food and Drug Law Institute and the Minnesota BioBusiness Alliance, on the Advisory Board for a new Masters Degree program in FDA Regulatory Affairs at St. Cloud State University, and on the Editorial Advisory Board for Medical Device Compliance.
Carolyn Choh
Carolyn Choh is a healthcare industry veteran, having consulted at top drug and device companies in the U.S. and abroad.  Carolyn serves on the admissions committee of the top-ranked Executive Pharmaceutical MBA program at Saint Joseph's University (SJU) and also teaches in the program.  In Asia, Carolyn helped local affiliates establish a women's health market for Wyeth International, competing against centuries-old traditions and entrenched "holistic" medicines. She also handled logistical issues in transferring technology from the US to Ireland and regulatory and pricing issues within individual Asian submarkets.  At SJU, Carolyn serves as faculty advisor to the Masters International Marketing (MIM) club, the Pharmaceutical Industry Leaders of Tomorrow (PILOT).
Arnie I. Friede, JD
Arnold I. Friede is the Principal in Arnold I. Friede & Associates, a firm specializing in FDA-related legal and regulatory matters. Arnie has had, for nearly 35 years, a distinguished career serving in a diverse array of highly responsible and complex regulatory positions and a long history of successfully representing clients in FDA-regulated matters. Arnie was an Associate Chief Counsel in the FDA Chief Counsel's Office, and also a member of the Federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in Washington, DC. He also held senior legal/regulatory positions at a number of FDA-regulated firms, including Richardson-Vicks, Unilever, and Pfizer, where he was Senior Corporate Counsel. He served as Counsel to the Washington, DC Office of McDermott Will & Emery. Arnie is a past-Chairman of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.
Henrique Krüger Frizzo
Henrique Krüger Frizzo is an associate at the law firm of Trench, Rossi and Watanabe, a division associated with Baker & McKenzie International, specializing in pharmaceutical and healthcare law. Frizzo specializes in contracts with Brazil's public administration and is widely published on the topic of promoting pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices globally.
Anthony M. Iacono
Anthony M. Iacono is president and founder of Access Medical Network, Inc., a company specializing in medical education strategic planning and design. Previously, Tony was Assistant Vice President, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, where he played a key role in medical education and grant-funding activities, and served as chair of the firm's Promotional Guidelines Committee. Formerly, Tony was a member of the AMA's Working Group on Gifts to Physicians from Industry, and education chair and board member of the Healthcare Marketing Council. Tony currently serves on the CME subcommittee of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication.
John F. Kamp, JD, PhD
Dr. John F. Kamp is Executive Director of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication and of counsel with the law firm Wiley Rein. A well-known advocate for First Amendment rights of individuals and corporations, he previously spent ten years each in the Washington office of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, in public policy positions at the Federal Communications Commission, and as a professor of journalism law and ethics.
Ahmet Karayazgan
Ahmet Karayazgan is managing partner of the Karayazgan Law Firm. Previously, he has been retained as in-house counsel for such multinational companies as Mobil, Allianz, and Fortis Insurance in Turkey, and as a litigation coordinator for Esso-Imperial Oil in Canada. Karayazgan has extensive experience working with insurance companies, healthcare institutions and pharmaceutical companies in advising on and litigation arising out of health insurance and/or liability insurance products including malpractice, hospital liability, and liabilities arising out of clinical trials. Karayazgan was admitted to the Istanbul Bar in 1992. He is on the Board of Directors of the Turkish Insurance Law Association, as well as a member of the Law Committee of both the Turkish Reinsurance and Insurance Companies Association and the Association of Individual Pension Companies. He has published a number of law review articles on insurance law and frequently lectures on similar issues at the Turkish Insurance Institute. Karayazgan is also one of the first registered arbitrators of the Turkish Insurance Arbitration Commission.
Coleen Klasmeier, JD
Coleen Klasmeier is a partner in Sidley Austin's Life Sciences Practice in Washington, where she focuses on regulatory, litigation, transactional, and enforcement matters. She counsels companies on promotional issues and writes and lectures frequently on promotion and other FDA-related matters. She is the author of Thompson Publishing's two-volume FDA Advertising and Promotion Manual. From 2002 to 2004, she was Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel at the FDA. She has been practicing food and drug law for a dozen years.
Maurits J. F. Lugard, JD, MA, LL.M
Maurits J. F. Lugard is a partner in the Brussels office of Sidley Austin LLP, where he leads the firm's EU Life Sciences Regulatory team. Maurits advises on a variety of EU regulatory issues involving drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, biotechnology, and chemicals, including pharmacovigilance, GMP compliance, post-authorization safety studies, and clinical trials. He was with the European Commission for nine years, including a three-year term at the European Commission's Legal Service. Maurits was responsible for analyzing draft legislation prepared by the Directorate-General for Environment and the Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection. He was also the European Commission's legal counsel on its communication on the "precautionary principle." In addition, Maurits spent six years at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Enterprise, where he led the European Union's "de-regulation" efforts in Japan for EU industrial products, including drugs and medical devices.
Alan Minsk, JD
Alan Minsk is a Partner and Chair of the Food & Drug Practice Team of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP. He advises companies on legal and regulatory matters. He also conducts in-house training on FDA and fraud- and abuse-related topics. He serves on the Editorial Boards of Pharmaceutical Formulation & Quality and Product Liability: Law and Strategy and is the General Counsel of the PDMA Alliance, a trade organization focused on compliance with the Prescription Drug Marketing Act and sample accountability.
Michael Misocky, RPh, JD
Michael Misocky is President of the Misocky Consulting Group. He is a registered pharmacist and an attorney. He was a Regulatory Review Officer for the FDA’s Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC). He also was Assistant Vice President and Deputy Compliance Officer at ImClone Systems and worked at Abbott Labs and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He is on the Editorial Board of the FDA Advertising and Promotion Manual.
Heloisa Barroso Uelze
Heloisa Barroso Uelze is partner at the law firm of Trench, Rossi and Watanabe, a division associated with Baker & McKenzie International, specializing in pharmaceutical and healthcare law.  Barroso Uelze specializes in food, drug, and cosmetic regulatory law within Brazil. 
Nancie Zecco, MPH
Nancie A. Zecco, MPH, is Senior Regulatory Associate at the biotechnology company, Alkermes, Inc., where she is responsible for all regulatory aspects of new product development and commercialization, as well as overseeing all aspects of FDA submissions, including INDs and NDAs. As a Regulatory Affairs professional, Nancie has extensive experience in managing and regulatory audit of Phase I through Phase IV clinical studies. Nancie has worked in both pharmaceutical and device companies – at such firms as Genzyme Corporation – as well as in clinical research settings, such as at the Harvard Medical School, Mass General Hospital, and the Dana Farber Cancer Center. At the Cancer Research Center of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Nancie was the Director of the Oncology Clinical Research Office and was responsible for overseeing all regulatory compliance. Nancie has an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School-Worcester, and has taken many additional courses at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Education and Testing Advisor

Lester Hoffman, PhD
Dr. Lester Hoffman is a nationally recognized expert in test construction and educational standards quality control. He has created certification and mastery tests and developed training programs on Regulatory Compliance in pharmaceuticals, financial services, and other regulated industries. Clients have included Novartis, Citigroup, Avon, Bank of America, JP Morgan/Chase, Lockheed-Martin, Merrill-Lynch, Alcoa, and AT&T. Dr. Hoffman has also designed and evaluated many Web-based training programs for baseline competencies in regulated industries.

Dr. Hoffman has a PhD from Harvard University, where he did advanced academic research and graduate teaching in Instructional Design and Cognitive Psychology. This, combined with his 25 years of business experience, has enabled Dr. Hoffman to apply in business settings the principles of human learning and educational testing. At AT&T and Bell Labs, where the disciplines of mastery testing and competency models were first established in American industry, he worked with the pioneers of educational testing quality control and skill modeling. In the healthcare industry, he has worked with such major organizations as Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Amgen, the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and Grey Global Group.