Eleanor Kerr
Eleanor Kerr is a recognized expert in government affairs and healthcare policy. Throughout her long career in Washington, DC, Eleanor has developed a reputation as one of the area’s leading healthcare lobbying executives, advising industry association boards and C-Suite executives on industry policy, government affairs and coalition building. Through her firm Kerr Advisors, Eleanor leverages her 30+ years of experience as a director of government relations at Siemens Healthineers, one of the world’s largest medical technology manufacturers, and as a senior director of government relations at SmithKline Beecham, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers (now GlaxoSmithKline).
Prior to creating Kerr Advisors, Eleanor led lobbying and policy development for Siemens Healthineers’ diagnostic imaging and in vitro diagnostics businesses. Hired in 2001, her topics included Medicare payment and coverage, tax policy, FDA regulatory policy, cybersecurity, right to repair, and most recently AI. In December 2023, Eleanor received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Advocacy from the Medical Imaging Technology Alliance (MITA), after having served on the MITA Board for nearly a decade as Chair of the Washington Representatives Committee.
Prior to her work at Siemens Healthineers, Eleanor was Senior Director of Government Relations for SmithKline Beecham, now GlaxoSmith Kline, where she led advocacy on antibiotics resistance, vaccine policy, medical records privacy and human genome research. Eleanor helped create and direct diverse stakeholder coalitions on all these topics.
In addition to her corporate lobbying positions, Eleanor served in the U.S. Senate twice, including as a professional staff member of the now-Senate HELP Committee. Eleanor also served in the George Herbert Walker Bush Administration as a senior policy advisor for Medicaid and FDA to then-HHS Secretary Louis Sullivan, MD.
Eleanor is a member of two senior women in healthcare networking organizations, Health on Wednesday (www.healthonwednesday.org) and Women Business Leaders in the Healthcare Industry (www.wbl.org). Eleanor serves on the Steering Committee of Health on Wednesday.
Eleanor is married with an adult daughter and resides in University Park, MD. Eleanor is an avid runner, having run 11 marathons, over 15 half marathons and 13 Cherry Blossom 10 milers. She is a 9-time qualifier for the Boston Marathon, which she has run 4 times.