Gail Groves Scott

About Gail Groves Scott

I\'m a self-employed public health and addiction policy researcher, advocate, and doctoral candidate. I engage in policy efforts to prevent drug overdoses, improve treatment and recovery services, and monitor opioid settlement spending.Advocacy:1) Decriminalizing harm reduction tools & services is a proven public health intervention. I testified in 2022 for PA\'s drug-checking/ fentanyl test strips legislation. It passed unanimously and is now law.Next, PA\'s bipartisan \"SSP bill\"- Syringe Service Program Expansion needs to pass. Reintroduced as HB 809 in 2025, former HB1245 in 2023. Previous bill was voted out of committee to House floor, 2024. 2) The federal MOTAA bill: S.644 - Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access ActResearch: 1) opioid and drug overdose prevention policies.2) access to treatment, especially in justice system settings.3) pharmaceutical marketing— how it impacts public health and policy. Like most Americans-substance use has impacted my family. I\'m grateful one of our children is in sustained recovery from an opioid use disorder. I lost a sibling at the age of 21 in a drug-use-related accidental death. A public health approach to drug policy in the U.S. would mean fewer people facing the heartbreak of losing loved ones. I left my 16-year career in pharma sales, after earning my Master\'s in Public Health in 2016. My life changed when I became a whistleblower. The case involved anti-competitive actions & illegal marketing to deter generic sales of buprenorphine (Suboxone), the life-saving addiction treatment. The DOJ won record-setting civil and criminal settlements; U.S. taxpayers recovered more than $2 billion. In 2020, I was an unpaid fact witness to a grand jury in the Purdue Pharma /OxyContin case. I discuss quitting pharma sales in a TEDxLancaster talk:\"Big Pharma in the Overdose Crisis: A Former Drug Rep Speaks Out\": After changing careers, I worked for 3 years in academia, at the University of the Sciences in Philly, launching their Substance Use Disorders Institute. We supported evidence-based policies, educated health professionals, and created an innovative medical cannabis CE/CME course. USciences and Philadelphia College of Pharmacy merged with St. Joseph\'s University in 2022, and I\'m now a PhD candidate there.In Spring 2024, I completed a 3+ years as an officer of an arts-related nonprofit in Lancaster, PA, keeping our historic Denzel carousel safe, until it can be restored and operating again.

Experience

1. Doctoral Candidate in Health Policy

   Saint Joseph's University

   Jan 2023 — Present · Philadelphia, PA, US

Education

• Goucher College

  BA, Communications

  1983 — 1986

• HIMSS E-learning Academy: IT Course

  August 2013 Certificate. Credits: 8.0 CPHIMS CE, Health Informatics Training System

• Saint Joseph's University

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Health Policy

  2023 — 2026

• The George Washington University

  National Merit Scholar

  1982 — 1983

• University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

  Master of Public Health (MPH), Health Policy

• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  Summer Institute 2021, Classes in Qualitative Research (PH.410.671) and Intro to Qualitative Data Analysis (PH.410.673)

  2021

• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  Summer Institute 2016, Class: Behavioral Health and the Law

  2016

• University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD student, Health Policy

  2018 — 2023

Skills

• Managed Care
• Healthcare
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Technical Writing
• Research
• Strategy
• Public Speaking
• Social Media
• Health Policy
• Account Management
• Program Management
• Legislative Advocacy
• Policy Analysis
• Healthcare Information Technology
• Project Management
• Training
• New Business Development
• Sales
• Marketing
• Public Health
• Consulting
• Product Launch