Amy Israel | Senior Advisor, Access to Medicines
Union for International Cancer Control

Amy Israel’s career spans diverse sectors and continents where she harnesses coalitions and evidence to improve health outcomes for those who need it most. She is currently Senior Advisor, Access to Medicines for the Union for International Cancer Control’s Access to Oncology Medicine Coalition, where she enabled access to 70+ generic, biosimilar and innovative medicines in low- and middle-income countries in less than one year. At Novartis, Israel was the Vice President and Global Head of Oncology Policy & Health Systems, creating award-winning company-wide approach to addressing health systems barriers in pre-launch planning for all assets and improving country cancer care cascades in 60 countries. She joined Novartis in 2018 to head global health and sub-Saharan Africa public affairs and was part of a five-member team designing a new business unit with patient reach as the target.   Prior to Novartis, Israel led global health partnerships and thought leadership at Eli Lilly and Company, creating multi-million-dollar initiatives across eight countries to improve health outcomes for millions, resulting in over 100 peer-reviewed partner publications and models taken to national scale. Earlier in her career, Israel spearheaded health systems implementation or policy initiatives in dozens of countries on behalf of nonprofit or international organizations. Examples include creating women’s micro-enterprises in Mexico, shaping HIV policy, and designing new care pathways for drug-resistant tuberculosis in South Africa.    She has held numerous committee and advisory roles with entities such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Health Organization, the NCD Alliance, the NCD Roundtable, and former Executive Committee member of the Global Health Council Board of Directors. She is a current Executive Committee and Board member of ICASO and serves on the Strategic Advisory Council of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Israel holds a Master of Social Work in Community Organizing from the University of Michigan.