The French-American Foundation is the principal non-governmental organization linking France and the United States at leadership levels and across the full range of the French-American relationship. 
Executive Director, Public Policy, Payer Strategy & Operations
Affymax, Inc.
Cynthia Smith is the Executive Director of Policy, Payer Strategy & Operations at Affymax, a biotech company based in Palo Alto, CA that is developing a novel treatment for anemia in kidney and cancer patients. Cynthia leads Affymax’s engagement with government and private health insurance plans.
Prior to joining Affymax in late 2008, Cynthia was Executive Director, Medicare and Healthcare Systems Strategy at Merck, where she was responsible for Merck’s $2 billion Medicare business and Managed Care strategy. During her tenure at Merck, Cynthia also led worldwide crisis management for VIOXX, the largest-ever pharmaceutical product market withdrawal. Cynthia joined Merck as Senior Director of Public Policy in Washington DC.
From 1995-2000, Cynthia served as a healthcare policy analyst and as Special Assistant to the Associate Director in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
She holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.S. in Public Policy from the Eagleton Institute of Rutgers University, and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
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