Leadership

Comprised of seasoned PBM executives and licensed pharmacists who specialize in thoroughly understanding your needs.

Ken Dowell

Executive Vice President,
Chairman of the Pharmacy Analytics Board

Since 1986, Ken has continuously been a pioneer in the healthcare industry, helping organizations maximize their overall pharmacy objectives. Ken has established his position as an industry-leading consultant, offering his unique expertise and insights to health plans, unions and self-insured employers of all sizes around the country. Ken made strong contributions to several of today’s leading PBMs around the country, focusing his primary efforts on business development and strategic direction.

Melissa Kuznik, PharmD

Vice President

Melissa has more than 18 years of healthcare experience
spanning managed care, pharmacy benefit management and strategic consulting. Through careful reporting examination and data analytics as well as applying her extensive knowledge of the industry, Melissa works in partnership with her clients, providing strategic solutions focused on managing drug spend and pharmacy benefits.

SCOTT NILSEN, CEBS

Senior Vice President,
Client Advocate

Scott joined the Excelsior Solutions leadership team in 2015 as Senior Vice President, providing strategic consulting experience to our client service teams. With more than 25 years of experience in the PBM, carrier and consulting space, Scott specializes in contract negotiations, pricing assessments, trend analysis, and strategy development and implementation.

Jonalan Smith, PharmD, FASCP

Senior Vice President,
Director

Jonalan has more than 15 years of pharmacy and healthcare experience. As a pharmacist and former managed care organization executive, Jonalan brings broad pharmacy, operational and clinical experience in health plans and government programs. Jonalan leads a team focused on developing strategies for health plans, health systems and employers to efficiently manage their pharmacy benefit while improving the health of their population.

SARAH MARTIN, MAAA, CEBS

Senior Vice President,
Assistant Director

Sarah is a Senior Vice President with 19 years of
experience in employee benefits. She is responsible
for pharmacy benefit financial client deliverables
and strategy. Her primary areas of expertise include
PBM procurement and contracting, cost forecasting,
data analysis, specialty drug predictive modeling and
emerging pharmacy benefit strategies.

Greg Bigwood

Senior Vice President,
Team Lead

Greg possesses nearly 25 years of diverse healthcare experience with over 20 years in pharmacy benefits. Having spent several years in PBM finance and underwriting, his deep understanding of PBM financials and operations ensures that his clients receive and maintain significant financial savings backed by unparalleled levels of service.

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BRANDI KELLY, PHARMD

Vice President,
Team Lead

Throughout her 20-year career in the pharmacy industry, Brandi has leveraged her extensive knowledge of pharmacy benefit management, including formulary administration, operations, clinical solutions, cost-saving strategies and specialty services, to transform organizations, develop value-add programs and improve clinical performance. She brings a depth of experience in helping clients better understand their prescription benefits, while also collaboratively working to identify savings opportunities and ensure plans are managed most effectively.

JOE PETERSEN, MBA

Vice President,
Team Lead

Joe has over a decade of experience in pharmacy benefits consulting. He has extensive experience assisting plan sponsors in selecting, managing and auditing PBM partners. Joe has overseen vendor selection, pricing evaluation, benefit design, specialty pharmacy strategy and various other client engagements supporting clients across a variety of industries.

JOE SCHMIDT, MBA

Vice President,
Team Lead

Joe has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, including pharmacy benefit management, managed care, retail pharmacy and healthcare provider. As a Vice President, Joe guides clients through the PBM procurement process, enabling clients to maximize savings and negotiate contract rights.

SHAVSHA DAVIS, MS, MPH

Vice President,
Team Lead

Shavsha is a Vice President and Team Lead at Excelsior Solutions with over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She leads a pharmacy team that analyzes plan performance, provides financial projections and interprets marketplace trends for employer clients. Shavsha specializes in designing clinical strategies, negotiating financial improvements, and validating and reconciling pharmacy contract terms.

JULAYNA MEYER, RPh, MBA

Senior Vice President

As a pharmacist, Julayna brings real-world expertise to clients on managing their pharmacy benefit. She has over 20 years of experience in pharmacy benefit management helping clients develop pharmacy strategies for improving health outcomes and lowering costs. At Excelsior Solutions, Julayna oversees the national pharmacy analytics team that works with clients to evaluate pharmacy performance, contracts and opportunities.

ROBERT KORDELLA, RPh

Chief Clinical Officer

Robert has more than 40 years of diverse experience in the pharmacy industry. Bob previously practiced in retail pharmacy in a large academic medical center setting, and, for more than 16 years, has been an effective and well-respected leader in the PBM industry.

RATNA PATEL, MBA

Vice President,
Pharmacy Analytics

Ratna brings more than 15 years of employee benefits experience and a reputation as a trusted leader. In her current role, she is a member of the team focused on developing strategies for employers and health plans to efficiently manage their pharmacy benefit while improving the health of their population.

CHRISTINE HALE, MD, MBA

Senior Vice President,
Clinical Consulting

Christine serves as our medical director and lead strategist for our Clinical Consulting team. Christine is known as
an innovator, collaborator and change agent, and is
particularly passionate about utilizing data and creative
solutions to reduce waste and improve cost effectiveness
in healthcare.

SHEALYNN BUCK, MD

Chief Medical Officer

As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Buck serves as a health and
welfare strategic consultant for U.S. employer clients, including healthcare employers, and specializes in clinical data analysis to inform actionable cost and risk mitigation solutions. Dr. Buck is the clinical leader of Lockton’s Coronavirus Advisory Practice and guides a multidisciplinary team of 22 clinical experts providing timely and practical clinical advice to more than 13,000 U.S. employers and Lockton Associates.