For Immediate Release – December 6, 2022 Alexandria, VA
Today the National Health Council (NHC) announced that Leah M. Howard, J.D., President and CEO of the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF), was elected to the NHC Board of Directors.
Howard has more than two decades of experience working with national health and disability organizations, local governments, and leading health care and research institutions. Over the last decade, Howard has empowered people with psoriatic disease to share their challenges with policymakers at the state and federal level, as well as with regulators and health agency management.
NHC works with diverse organizations to drive patient-centered health policy, like access to affordable, high-value, and sustainable health care. Today, this 100-year-old organization brings together 150 national health-related organizations and businesses, including a core group of leading national patient organizations, like NPF.
“I’m honored to join the NHC Board of Directors. I believe so strongly that people with chronic diseases and disabilities should be placed at the center of the decision-making and policymaking process, and so does NHC,” says Howard. “Over the last twenty years, I have enjoyed many opportunities to collaborate with the National Health Council leadership. NPF has been working closely with the National Health Council for many years, and I’m excited to continue to advance this successful partnership. Together, NHC members can end the burdens of chronic diseases like psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and many others.”
Howard is one of four new members to the NHC board. The others are Lisa Butler, Executive Director of the GBS|CIDP Foundation International; Daniel Gillison, CEO of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness); and Leonardo Valentino, President and CEO of the National Hemophilia Foundation.
The 2023 NHC Board of Directors will by chaired by Kenneth “Kenny” Mendez, President and CEO of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
About the National Psoriasis Foundation
Serving its community through more than 55 years of support, advocacy, research, and education, the National Psoriasis Foundation is the world’s leading nonprofit organization representing individuals with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The NPF mission is to drive efforts to cure psoriatic disease and improve the lives of more than 8 million individuals in the United States affected by this chronic immune-mediated disease. As part of that effort, NPF created its Patient Navigation Center to offer personalized assistance to everyone with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis. In recent years, NPF has funded more than $30 million in research grants and fellowships that help drive discoveries that may lead to better treatments and ultimately a cure. Learn more at psoriasis.org