Graduation 2024

Will Tilburg, JD, MPH, was appointed inaugural director of the Maryland Cannabis Administration in May 2023. Prior to this appointment, Tilburg spent five years at the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, where he served first as director of policy and then as executive director of the State’s medical cannabis program. Tilburg is president of the Cannabis Regulations Association – a nonpartisan association of state cannabis and hemp regulators representing more than 45 states and territories that develops best practices for cannabis and hemp regulation in the United States.

Before joining the State, Tilburg spent several years providing legal and policy support to federal, state, and local governments and health departments on a wide range of public health issues, including environmental health, tobacco control, and drug policy. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Providence College, a Master of Public Health from the University of Maryland, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

M. Khair ElZarrad, PhD, MPH, is director of the Office of Medical Policy (OMP) in the FDA’ Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). As director, ElZarrad leads the development, coordination, and implementation of medical policy programs and strategic initiatives. He works collaboratively with other CDER program areas, FDA centers, and stakeholders on enhancing policies to improve drug development and regulatory review processes.

OMP is comprised of the Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) and the Office of Medical Policy Initiatives (OMPI). OPDP oversees the regulation of prescription drug promotion and advertising. OMPI provides oversight and direction for new and ongoing policy initiatives in broad-based medical and clinical policy areas.

Before joining FDA, ElZarra served as senior science policy analyst and director of the Clinical and Healthcare Research Policy Division at the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health. He also served as a fellow on both the FDA’s Interagency Oncology Taskforce, as well as the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program within the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences.

ElZarrad earned his doctoral degree in medical sciences with a focus on understanding cancer metastases from the University of South Alabama Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, his Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Samford University.

Brent N. Reed, PharmD, is a doctoral candidate in Organizational Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where his research focuses on workplace stress and burnout. After practicing as a pharmacist for nearly a decade, Reed’s decision to pursue further education was inspired by an interest in investigating the factors contributing to burnout across the health professions. Before returning to school in 2021, Reed served as a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy for eight years, most recently as an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice. During that time, he also practiced at the University of Maryland Medical Center, where he specialized in the management of advanced heart failure, mechanical circulatory support, and cardiac transplantation.

Brenda Cirincione has more than 25 years of research experience in clinical pharmacology and pharmacometrics. She received a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a MA in Statistics from the University of Buffalo, State University of New York, and has experience in businesses across the pharmacometrics continuum: starting in a CRO (Cognigen), then a biotech (Amylin), biopharma (Bristol Myers Squibb) and most recently as the head of clinical pharmacology and quantitative pharmacology at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, allowing her expanded experience in drug development. She has experience across multiple therapeutics with both development and application of innovative and mechanism‐based clinical pharmacology models to optimize drug development and support approval for multiple therapeutic areas in multiple countries. She recently completed her term on the Board of Directors for the International Society of Pharmacometrics during which she served as preconference chair for ACoP7, conference chair for ACoP8, chair-elect for the Nomination Committee, treasurer, secretary, president, and past president for the society as well as leader or key contributor to a range of ISoP activities. In addition, she has contributed to the advancement of pediatric drug development through the Expert Working Group for the E11a guideline development representing the BIO organization. She has presented many PK and PK/PD research projects at prominent international meetings and has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals.