Our Story

After years of collaboration at a global biopharma company, Stu Charney and Siobhán Ní Bhuachalla arrived at an important realization – their combined expertise and values could offer organizations unique pathways to achieving high-priority business and policy goals. Their deep familiarity with stakeholder operations, and how and where they influence others, were among Siobhan and Stu’s key points of differentiation. And they wanted to create a firm built on true consultative dialogue. In 2002, they co-founded SixDegrees Health Care Consulting, a woman-owned business, to focus on their core strengths: delivering insights, creating connections, and mobilizing influencers.

Clients quickly appreciated their ability to organize coalitions and persuade external stakeholders to promote mutually aligned policies and practices. Stu and Siobhan’s insights, based on their collective expertise, their personal commitments to activism on social issues and on behalf of people with developmental disabilities, and their high level of engagement with key influencers, continue to serve as the foundation for SixDegrees’ relationships with its clients.

While SixDegrees had already been serving clients in Europe and in the CNS space, 2019 marked an important milestone for the firm: Daniele Bravi, MD, former VP, Parkinson’s Disease Strategy at Lundbeck R&D, joined SixDegrees as a principal from his office in Rome, Italy. In addition to maintaining his close ties to the biopharma industry and the medical-scientific community, Dr. Bravi continues to see patients with neurodegenerative disorders, leads our CNS therapeutic area practice and directs our European operations. Please scroll down to read the full team’s bios.

Clinical Development

N4P management
Rare disease

Market Access, HEOR

Law

Communications, Public Relations

Medical Affairs & Patient Advocacy

Stuart Charney, RPh, JD

PRINCIPAL

Stuart Charney has established a career identifying and leveraging shared interests among diverse constituencies to achieve urgent, “real time,” business and policy goals. Recognized as “an inspirational leader, problem solver and coalition builder,” Stuart has a proven record in shaping stakeholder actions in alignment with clients’ commercial and reputational objectives, while simultaneously creating and nurturing long-term strategic alliances. 

In 2003, Stuart co-founded SixDegrees Health Care Consulting, Inc., whose clients have included prominent research-based multi-national companies, global and national medical specialty societies and patient organizations, industry trade groups, and global public relations agencies and lobbying firms. He provides his clients with expertise navigating complex business and policy environments, deep roots across the global health ecosystem, a unique ability to motivate and mobilize support of allies and potential adversaries, and skillful project and relationship management.

Stuart routinely engages with individuals and organizations representing patients, consumers, NGOs, medicine, researchers, health systems, payers, investment houses, employers, media, health ministers, advocates and policy makers, as well as trade associations and technology companies. These constituencies rely on his insights, trusted relationships, ingenuity and infectious enthusiasm for achieving change through collaboration.

A member of the New York State Bar, Stuart holds a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Touro College School of Law in New York, where he was editor-in chief of the Law Review, and a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from A&M Schwartz College of Pharmacy at Long Island University. 

Stuart is passionate about ensuring individuals with disabilities have access to critical services and supports that enable successful and sustainable community living. He has served as a voluntary executive (Board of Directors co-chairman, vice chair) at Keshet, a Chicago-based non-profit that provides educational, recreational, vocational, residential and social programs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And he currently serves as Advisory Council co-chair and Advisor to the Board of Directors of the National Network of Depression Centers (NNDC).

Siobhán Ní Bhuachalla, MPH

PRINCIPAL

Siobhán Ní Bhuachalla has over twenty years of senior level project management and communications experience in the healthcare industry. She began her career as a senior liaison between industry and not-for-profit groups while working for an international voluntary health association, and subsequently for more than ten years in the pharmaceutical industry (Sigma-Tau, Searle, Pharmacia, Abbott Laboratories). Her experience covers corporate communications, crisis management, environmental risk mapping, strategic planning for access to medicines in developing countries, international clinical trial management, opinion leader/advocate development, and the development of social marketing projects between industry and not-for-profit organizations. At Abbott, she ran the Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development communications division. She co-founded SixDegrees to provide strategic guidance on addressing the changing the global health care environment.

Siobhán is an FDA award winner for “excellence in consumer education” for her booklet on the mid-stages of Parkinson’s disease (co-authored with Professor Peggy Hoehn, published in 1992). She has been an invited speaker in international forums on patient education and has made several official appearances before U.S. government agencies advocating for policy changes in health care. She is a Visiting Faculty member at DePaul University in Chicago where she teaches a bachelor’s level course on The Global Challenge of Emerging Infectious Diseases. She sits on the Educational Advisory Board of the California Academy of Family Physicians.

Siobhán holds an honors degree in Law from the National University of Ireland (Dublin Campus). She earned her Master of Public Health Degree, with an emphasis on epidemiology, from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore.

Daniele Bravi, MD

PRINCIPAL

Dr. Bravi offers SixDegrees’ clients a broad array of expert counsel: creating pre- and post-approval clinical development plans; creating and managing Scientific Advisory Boards and KOL relationships; optimizing Clinical, Medical and R&D departments (including interim management of these corporate functions), life cycle management opportunities (Commercial and R&D), and more. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to the development and commercialization of drugs in oncology, CNS (depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s), diabetes and other endocrine disorders, and bone diseases. 

Immediately prior to joining the SixDegrees leadership team, Dr. Bravi was VP, Parkinson’s Disease Strategy at Lundbeck R&D, where he was responsible for global business development and senior stakeholder relationships, guiding the clinical leadership team (neurology and psychiatry) and developing strategies around neurodegenerative disorders. Previously he held several senior level positions – CMO, CSO, VP of Clinical and Drug Development – with responsibilities in Europe (Central, Western Southern, Northern, Eastern Countries plus Turkey), U.S., Canada and Latin America.

Dr. Bravi is a board-certified neurologist and maintains his practice skills as a clinical fellow at the prestigious IRCCS San Raffaele Rome. He is a member of the Movement Disorders Society and the NY Academy of Science, and previously served as a Visiting Fellow at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) within the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Philippe Auby, MD

SENIOR ADVISOR

Dr. Auby, a board-certified adult, child and adolescent psychiatrist and a 25-year veteran in the pharmaceutical industry, provides SixDegrees’ clients with expert counsel in multiple areas of product development, commercialization and advocacy. His combination of clinical, academic and corporate leadership positions is a valuable asset for life science companies and health systems. Since 2001, Philippe has worked within the international environment, leading worldwide clinical developments, involved in global strategic decisions and interacting with regulatory bodies in the U.S., EU and Japan.

In June 2016, Philippe became CEO, president, and board member of Otsuka Europe Development and Commercialisation, a UK-based company. Philippe prepared the company for Brexit, and in January 2019, became CEO & president of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialisation – Europe, a German-based company. Philippe also led the organisation successfully through the pandemic. He was a valued participant in Otsuka global strategic meetings in Japan, and was a voting member of Otsuka global quality, regulatory and safety governance body.

Previously, Philippe worked at Otsuka’s Princeton, N.J. office as executive director-CNS for Abilify, as well as other senior executive positions in the company’s global medical science, development and commercialization functions. He led a comprehensive and highly successful paediatric programme in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder at that time, obtaining paediatric indications and paediatric exclusivity for Abilify in the U.S.

Earlier in his career, Philippe spent ten years in various management roles in the Lundbeck R&D organisation, including a leadership position in Medical Affairs and as vice president of Global Clinical Research, Paediatric Neuropsychiatry. Motivated by his passion for child and adolescent psychiatry and patient centricity, Philippe developed paediatric-focused activities that aligned with Lundbeck’s strategic interest in supporting the patient community.

In addition to his role as a SixDegrees consultant, Philippe is an Invited Collaborator at CoBTeK lab – Université Côte d'Azur (Nice, France) and associate editor at Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health (CAPMH), the official open-access journal of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP). He is passionate about providing coaching for pharmaceutical executives seeking to enhance their leadership skills and advance their careers.

Philippe received his medical degree from Toulouse University of Medicine, France, and spent two years working as a psychiatrist in refugee camps in Thailand. 

Krai Chatamra, PhD

SENIOR ADVISOR

Dr. Chatamra offers SixDegrees’ clients 25 years of international drug development experience within the clinical and medical affairs realm with multiple biopharmaceutical and clinical research organizations. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to the successful development and commercialization of new chemical entities and drug-device combination therapies in a number of therapeutic areas, including CNS (Parkinson’s disease, Multiple System Atrophy, neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and progressive supranuclear palsy), CV (acute myocardial infarction and atherosclerosis), psychiatry (generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder), oncology (metastatic breast, pancreatic, non-small cell and small cell), and pulmonary (asthma and recurrent sinusitis).

Skilled across Phase 1-4 clinical trials, Dr. Chatamra has designed and conducted numerous studies resulting in successful registration of assets in multiple regions, including USA, Canada, EU member states and Australasia (Australia, New Zealand, and some neighboring islands). As a global clinical director at Solvay, Dr. Chatamra led the development of Duopa®/Duodopa® (levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel) for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease. In his role as Clinical Lead at Parke-Davis (later acquired by Pfizer), he was instrumental in the development of Lyrica® (pregabalin) and its success spanning several therapeutic indications.

Prior to joining SixDegrees, Dr. Chatamra also held leadership positions at Theravance (Executive Director) and Lundbeck (Head of Medical Affairs-Neurology). In addition to serving as senior counselor at SixDegrees, he is Vice President of Clinical Development for Intrance Medical Systems Inc, a biopharmaceutical company focusing on a clinical-stage drug-device combination product in advanced Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Chatamra holds a Bachelor’s of Science with honors in physiology and a PhD in cardiovascular physiology, both from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. He has been a reviewer of several scientific journals of international repute and is an active member of the American Academy of Neurology and International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. 

Jed Weiner

SENIOR ADVISOR

Jed Weiner is President of White Oak Communications, Inc., a marketing communications and public relations consultancy. His career of more than thirty years includes successful campaigns in the medical device, diagnostic, biopharmaceuticals and related fields. Since becoming an independent healthcare marketing story strategist in 2001, Jed’s clients have ranged from global diversified healthcare companies to pre-revenue startups to non-profits, including Baxalta, Baxter, Cures Within Reach, GE Healthcare, GI Supply, Hemanext, iBIO, Loyola University Medical Center, Preora, Shire and Takeda. 

Previously, Jed served as the leader of the Chicago healthcare practices of global communications agencies, including Weber Shandwick and GCI Healthcare, with a focus on pre-clinical research, clinical trial recruitment, pre-approval market conditioning, product launches and brand/corporate positioning. At Abbott, Baxter and G.D. Searle, Jed led and/or participated in PR and marketing communications campaigns across many therapeutic areas.

Prior to entering public relations, Jed enjoyed a successful, 11-year career in television news, including positions as a writer/producer at ABC in New York. At local stations in Boston, Portland, Ore., and elsewhere, Jed was a newscast producer, assignment editor, on-camera reporter and producer/host of two public affairs programs. Jed earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcasting & Film from Boston University’s College of Communication.

Jeanine Boyle, JD, MPH

SENIOR ADVISOR

Jeanine Boyle is President/CEO at Rock Creek Policy Advisors, a full-service health policy consulting firm working with government and private sector clients on public policy issues in the federal and state policy arenas. Previously, she served as Vice President of Federal Government Affairs and Health Policy at Magellan Health. She also directed federal and state policy in roles she held at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals; and PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry trade association. Jeanine holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University; a Master of Public Health with a concentration in law and public health from Harvard University School of Public Health; and a JD, cum laude, from Tulane University School of Law. She recently completed her second year of a two-year term as President of the Board of Trustees for the Woodley House, a non-profit organization that provides supportive housing for individuals with mental illness in Washington, DC.

Jill Kallen, MA

SENIOR ADVISOR

Jill Kallen has twenty-five years of senior management, advocacy, communications and external affairs experience on both the not-for-profit and industry sides of health care. Jill spent more than a decade at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), rising to the level of Associate Vice President for Governance, Communications and Operations. While at AGS, she oversaw all volunteer board and committee governance, member communications, outreach and retention, policy and advocacy, and development of international liaisons. She spearheaded an enduring professional relationship between geriatrics organizations located in England, France and the U.S. and subsequently managed the first meeting of the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS).

Jill served as the Senior Advisor for Quality and Performance Measurement for the Society of Hospital Medicine(SHM). In this capacity, Jill advocated for hospital-medicine based quality measures at the national level, working collaboratively with the National Quality Forum, the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She provided strategic outreach and fostered liaisons with other medical professional societies and organizations to advance the hospital medicine quality measure agenda. Jill consulted for the American Medical Directors Association (AMDA), advocating on behalf of medical directors and other nursing home health care providers for the development and implementation of long-term care quality measures. 

Steven Friedman, R.Ph.

SENIOR ADVISOR

Steve is a highly experienced pharmaceutical industry executive with multi-tasking abilities and core competencies in trade relations, manufacturer contracting, business development, sales, marketing, purchasing and merchandising. His tenures in the manufacturing, wholesale and retail pharmacy sectors have provided him with an especially well-rounded understanding of the pharmaceutical marketplace and fostered the strong skill-sets needed to accurately forecast trends and quickly respond to rapidly changing market conditions. In addition, his depth of professional experience has resulted in a steady successful results-oriented track record for generating profitable growth. As an industry expert, Steve has been a frequent public speaker and contributor at pharmaceutical conferences, public forums, and pharmacy advisory panels, and continues to enjoy a significant degree of contact with his pharmacy peers.

Steve has 40 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry having worked for companies such as Henry Schein, H.D. Smith, Pharmacy First, and PDX-NHIN Inc. During these tenures, he has received the NCPA Spirit of Independence Award, the GlaxoSmithKline Patient Care Implementation Excellence Award, the PDX- “I am PDX” Award, as well was being an Express Scripts UBC “PharmaHeroes” recipient.