Our Experts
Legacy provides consulting services and innovative solutions that deliver a new type of R&D process, creative thinking, and purpose with a sense of urgency which in turn drives tangibl​e changes in the development of medical products and the evidence that is needed to inform our clients’ internal decisions as well as those of external decision-makers including that of regulators, payers, providers, and patients. Please click on the photo below to find specific team members’ areas of expertise to better fit your needs and push the ‘Contact’ button to get in touch!
Rolf Benirschke
Founder, Chief Patient Officer
Chief Patient Officer, Founder, Patient Engagement, CEO Coaching and Mentoring
Rolf Benirschke’s third season as a placekicker in the NFL was cut short when he collapsed on a cross-country team flight while battling Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He had to undergo two emergency abdominal surgeries six days apart that left him wearing an ostomy appliance and would force him to spend almost six weeks in the intensive care unit fighting for his life. Remarkably, he survived and would return to play seven more seasons with the San Diego Chargers, becoming the first player ever to wear an ostomy bag in the NFL. He earned numerous honors, including the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, played in the Pro Bowl, and was the 20th player inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame.Â
Several years after retiring from the NFL, he discovered that he had received tainted blood from the many transfusions he needed to survive his surgeries. After three year-long difficult clinical trials, he was cured of his hepatitis C. His health battles changed him, and he devoted his life to advocating for patients, encouraging pharmaceutical and medical device innovation, and inspiring audiences through his keynote presentations.Â
He has written four books, walked on Federal and state capitols to educate legislators about health issues. He also launched the Grateful Patient Project to encourage patients to thank their doctors, nurses, caregivers, and the medical companies who have worked on their behalf. Wanting to make even more of an impact, Rolf founded Legacy Health Strategies and built a high-powered consulting team to help amplify the voice of the patient and help serve as a bridge for what patients want and industry needs.
Engage with Rolf For:
- CEO Coaching and Mentoring
- Keynote Speaking and Town Halls
- National Patient Advocacy Consulting
- Strategic Advising
- C-Suite (and Investors)
- Team Coaching and EmpowermentÂ
Jessica Scott MD, JD
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer, Patient Perspectives and Planning, DEI, Regulatory Decision-Making
As a teen, Jessica lost her sister to osteosarcoma. The experience ignited Jessica’s desire to help patients and families through illness, including through clinical trials, as partners. She graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed her Family Medicine Residency at the University of Virginia in Roanoke. After practicing medicine for over a decade, Jessica attended Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, and the North Carolina Physician Leadership Program. She is a trained collaborative law attorney and mediator of over 50 cases and has been certified as North Carolina Superior Court Mediator. As Patient Engagement leader, Jessica brings her combined acumen of medicine and law, together with innovative thinking, to drive the culture change of increasing patient perspectives in medical product development to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes for patients and industry.Â
Jessica also has deep pharmaceutical industry experience as an ambassador representing industry on medical policy issues at a global level. She is known as a credible and trusted thought-leader and collaborator, who brings innovative solutions, digital strategies, and patient-centered approaches to biotech, med-tech, and pharmaceutical industries. From her leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda, she has increasingly focused on bringing patient perspectives into the process of R&D, with demonstrated experience in shifting the mindset from developing medicine for patients to developing medicines with patients.Â
Jessica has received awards for innovative and impactful work in Patient Engagement, including the Trail Blazer Award and PharmaVoice100 as one of the top 100 most inspiring leaders in the industry. Jessica is actively involved as a member of the Strategic Advisory Board to Bioethics International, Patient-Focused Medicines Development, DIA Patient Advisory Council and remains licensed to practice law in North Carolina. Jessica is married and has three children.Â
Engage with Jessica for:Â
- Patient Engagement Consulting
- Patient Perspectives for Regulatory Decision-MakingÂ
- Building a Patient Engagement FunctionÂ
- Coaching and MentoringÂ
- C-Suite (and Investors)Â
- DEI with Patient EngagementÂ
- Return of Research Results (aggregate and individual)
Vivian Larsen
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Vivian Larsen serves as Legacy’s Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the strategy and operations of the company in helping pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies partner with people living with various conditions to jointly bring products of value to patients faster. Throughout her 20+ years in the Pharma industry with GSK and Takeda, she has been privileged to serve in a wide variety of roles, from Project and Change Management in IT, to Data Transparency in R&D, to Corporate Social Responsibility in HR. She is also passionate about Public-Private Partnerships in creating positive societal impact as a result of her corporate volunteering experience with Save the Children in the Philippines. Â
Vivian received her BS in Biology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2001 and MBA in International Business from Villanova University in 2007. Vivian has previously served as the President of the Carnegie Mellon Philadelphia Alumni Chapter, Executive Director on the Alumni Association Board, where she chaired the Engagement Committee to improve outreach with 100,000+ alumni, and is currently active on the Mellon College of Science Dean’s Advisory Board.Â
Engage with Vivian For:
- Patient Engagement in R&D
- Coaching and Mentoring
- DEI With Patient Engagement
- Patient Engagement Strategy and OperationsÂ
Lori Hall
Senior Director, Health Literacy and Communication
Senior Director - Health Literacy & Communications
Lori is an award-winning patient engagement thought leader and innovator in the global Health Literacy field with frequent invitations for speaking engagements and strategic consulting. Leveraging 30+ years of healthcare experience, her strategic focus is on the intersection between health literacy and health equity to address the needs of our changing world. Â
Health literacy principles make information clearer. Health equity principles make it more inclusive. Carefully considering both becomes a force multiplier as our industry looks to deliver more value to patients, HCPs, payers, and pharma through meaningful, patient-centric solutions that improve health outcomes. Â
Lori has served on the National Academy of Medicine’s Roundtable on Health Literacy, the Multi-Regional Clinical Trial (MRCT) Center’s Health Literacy Advisory Committee, and Board Chair for Indy Reads, a local non-profit with the mission to build literacy, English language, and job readiness skills empowering adults and families to reach their full potential.Â
Engage with Lori for:Â
- Organizational Health Literacy StrategiesÂ
- Making the Business Case for Health LiteracyÂ
- Health Literacy Coaching and MentoringÂ
- Strategies for Integrating Health Literacy into WorkflowsÂ
- Improving the Clarity and Reach of Your ContentÂ
- Patient-Centric Industry Conference PanelsÂ
Sandra Prucka
Senior Director, Patient Engagement Strategy and Operations
Sr. Director, Patient Engagement Strategy and Operations
With practice as a clinical genetic counselor and having led and grown two different clinical programs (University of Alabama at Birmingham and Indiana University Health) throughout her career, Sandra has extensive leadership and clinical genetics experience in addition to her involvement in genomic research. Sandy is a recognized leader in her field, serving in several leadership positions, including a position on the Board of Directors for the National Society of Genetic Counselors (2022 – 2023). Â
Through nearly a decade at Eli Lilly and Company, Sandra spent much of that time in the Tailored Therapeutics/Pharmacogenomics Group in addition to over a year in Clinical Innovations. While at Lilly, she developed her expertise in biobanks, global sample collection to support pharmacogenomic and biomarker research, genomic policy and obtained additional training in bioethics both at Lilly and Georgetown University. Sandra has a deep interest in communicating more effectively with research participants which led to work in both digital consent and the return of research results. The return of results being an area where she has dedicated much of her career, developing tools, resources and policy. Â Â
Engage with Sandy for:Â
- Clinical Genetics and Rare Disease ExpertiseÂ
- Coaching and MentoringÂ
- Data PrivacyÂ
- BiobanksÂ
- BioethicsÂ
- Pharmacogenomic and Biomarker ResearchÂ
- Genomic and Genetic Counseling EducationÂ
- Informed ConsentÂ
- Return of Research ResultsÂ
