The Mark Mckenna Lecture Endowment recognizes McKenna’s contributions to the development of the field of health sector supply chain. McKenna, in his role as President of Novation (1998-2006), was a 2004 founding member of the Health Sector Supply Chain Research Consortium (HSRC-ASU) and a continuous supporter of bringing academia and industry partners together to solve major problems across the health sector supply chain. McKenna’s career spanned both the supplier and provider sectors in healthcare, including senior management positions with Imed Corp., Baxter Healthcare Corp., VHA Inc. He also served as chairman of the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association (HIGPA) and was elected to the Bellwether League Healthcare Supply Chain Hall of Fame (2010).

The event will feature Dr. Rob Handfield’s Keynote presentation entitled Building Immunity into our Medical Supply Chains. Based on his experience serving on the White House COVID Joint Acquisition Task Force, Professor Handfield will share insights on the fragility of our medical supply chain for medical products and medicines. He will draw from his experiences, including work with the SMI Council, the FDA, and other members of his executive network, in describing the requirements to build “immunity” to disruptions that threaten the resiliency of our nation’s medical supply chain. He will also describe recommendations for policy and incentives.

Rob Handfield is the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University, and Executive Director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative.