Advisor Spotlight: Ramona Burress | Championing Patient-Centered Health Equity

Ramona Burress: Championing Patient-Centered Health Equity

Ramona Burress, PharmD, is a woman of many titles—pharmacist, breast cancer survivor, mother, advocate—but at the heart of all these roles lies a singular mission: to ensure that every patient is seen, heard, and treated as a whole person. Her journey through pharmacy, patient care, and now the pharmaceutical industry, tells the story of a career rooted in the understanding that healthcare is not just about treating diseases, but about caring for people.

Ramona's career began unexpectedly, as many journeys do. Initially pursuing a medical degree, life took a turn when she started a family during her undergraduate years. This led her to pharmacy, a field she discovered while working as a cashier at Walgreens. It was a fateful shift, one that introduced her to the world of patient care in a way she hadn’t anticipated. “Pharmacists are often the most accessible healthcare providers in many communities,” she reflects. “Patients come to us with concerns they may not even have shared with their doctors. We have the unique opportunity to influence their health decisions and empower them.”

Her early years at Walgreens were far from the typical retail experience. She worked in specialty locations, often within academic institutions, that focused on patients with complex diseases. It was here that Ramona "grew up" as a clinician in the HIV space, learning lessons that would shape her approach to healthcare for the rest of her career. She recalls, “I was a better pharmacist when I remembered that the patient in front of me was a person. I used my pharmacist license to be a social worker, recognizing the whole person and not just their disease.”

This holistic approach to patient care became particularly poignant as she worked with individuals often marginalized by society—sex workers, heroin addicts, and others deemed “derelicts.” Ramona saw their worth, their right to innovative treatments, and their need to be treated as individuals. “These were people who had been dismissed because they weren’t the perfect idea of a patient,” she says. “But they deserved care, just like anyone else.”

Ramona’s experience in HIV care underscored the importance of collaborative, multidisciplinary care teams, where pharmacists, physicians, and case managers worked together to address not just the medical needs, but the humanistic needs of patients. This comprehensive care model, she believes, is crucial in addressing health disparities and improving outcomes, particularly in communities that are often overlooked.

As her career progressed, Ramona transitioned from direct patient care to a role in the pharmaceutical industry, where she continues to champion patient-focused drug development. Now at Takeda, a leading pharma company, she ensures that patients’ voices are at the forefront of every decision, from clinical trials to drug development strategies. “We don’t just create recruitment and retention plans for clinical trials,” she explains. “We put protocol elements in front of patients, we understand their unmet needs, and we ask whether what we think is important is actually important to the people living with the condition.”

Ramona’s move into the pharmaceutical industry was motivated by a desire to bring the same patient-centric focus she had in clinical care to the broader world of drug development. “As researchers and scientists, we often live in a bubble,” she notes. “But the real question is, what does the person living with this condition think? What are their priorities?” Her work involves integrating patient insights early in the development process, ensuring that the drugs being developed are purposeful and truly address the needs of those they are intended to help.

One of the most impactful roles Ramona has taken on in her career is as an advocate for diversity and inclusion in clinical trials. Her personal experience as a patient, combined with her professional expertise, drives her to ensure that clinical research reflects the diverse populations it seeks to serve. She points out, “My own journey as a patient was marked by struggles to have my voice heard, especially as a Black woman in spaces where the doctors didn’t look like me. This experience fuels my commitment to elevating the voices of all patients, particularly those who are often marginalized.”

In her role as Director of Diversity and Inclusion in Clinical Trials at Janssen, she led key initiatives to promote diversity in clinical trials, recognizing the systemic barriers that often prevent underrepresented populations from participating in research. These barriers, she emphasizes, require not just awareness, but concerted effort and strategic action to dismantle. “We can’t just keep pointing fingers at the problems,” she asserts. “We have to provide solutions, and that’s where my work comes in.”

Ramona’s approach is multifaceted, involving patient focus groups, surveys, and digital tools, all designed to gather insights from diverse populations. She insists on a global perspective, ensuring that patient engagement strategies are tailored to the specific cultural and legal contexts of different regions. This comprehensive approach not only improves the quality of the research but also builds trust and long-term relationships with patients and communities.

Beyond her professional roles, Ramona is deeply involved in nonprofit work, particularly in areas related to breast cancer and education. As a breast cancer survivor, she is passionate about ensuring that organizations like Susan G. Komen reach the populations most in need, particularly Black and Brown communities that have historically been underserved. “Their reach doesn’t match the epidemiology data,” she says. “They don’t touch enough Black and Brown people, and that’s where I can help.”

Her commitment to education is equally strong. As a product of the Chicago public school system, Ramona understands the importance of access and exposure for students of color. She works tirelessly to create opportunities for young people, particularly those from underrepresented communities, to enter the fields of public health and medicine. “Access is everything,” she says. “Someone opened a door for me, and I’m committed to doing the same for the next generation.”

Ramona Burress’s story is one of resilience, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to health equity. Her work, both in her professional life and in her community, is a testament to the power of seeing the whole person, of listening to their stories, and of ensuring that every patient’s voice is heard. In a healthcare system that often overlooks the most vulnerable, Ramona stands as a beacon of hope, tirelessly advocating for a world where every patient is treated with the dignity and care they deserve.