With a background in public health, health policy, and a longstanding dedication to addressing health disparities, Binta Beard stepped into her role as Head of U.S. Social Impact and President of the Novartis U.S. Foundation with a clear mission: to scale and strengthen Novartis’ efforts to reduce health barriers to healthcare for communities across the United States.

Building on the groundwork laid by previous initiatives, Beard brings strategic oversight to key partnerships, including the Healthy Zip Codes (HZC) initiative—launched in 2021—which engages leading institutions such as Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, Indiana University Health, and Rush University Medical Center.

Beard’s leadership, which she sharpened during her stints in leading industry positions at AbbVie as well as the U.S. government, will be central in deepening the impact of these collaborations and identifying sustainable, community-rooted solutions to tackle long-standing health disparities, such as cardiovascular disease, which remains the leading cause of death in the U.S.

Dr. Beard, in 2024 you took on a dual leadership role at Novartis—can you share what this position entails and how it allows you to make an impact?


In my current role, I wear two hats: I serve as the Head of U.S. Social Impact and also as President of the Novartis U.S. Foundation. As president of the Foundation, I have the great privilege of leading some of our most meaningful philanthropic partnerships, such as Beacon of Hope. It’s about extending Novartis’ philanthropic commitment in communities across the country. On the Social Impact side, I get to work cross-functionally across the company, thinking strategically about how to address the barriers patients face in accessing our medicines.

Many people in healthcare have a deeply personal reason for the work they do. What has driven your commitment to public health and health equity over the years?


My motivation and purpose have been incredibly consistent since I was about 11 years old. Even at that young age, I knew I wanted to do something in public health, though I didn’t have the words for it at the time. That desire has carried through everything I’ve done. What I’m really passionate about is preventing the preventable. Around the world, people are suffering and even dying from conditions that we know how to prevent—whether through medicines, public health infrastructure, or community support. At Novartis, I feel privileged to contribute to dismantling the barriers that keep people from achieving their best possible health and well-being. That’s what gets me up in the morning.

You’ve described yourself as a “social epidemiologist.” What does that term mean to you, and how does it influence how you see health challenges?

I look at health through a systemic lens. If you take a condition like obesity, for example, different professionals approach it in different ways. Some might focus on developing or prescribing medications. Others might lean into education, promoting better diets and physical activity. A social epidemiologist, though, looks at why some people can’t access healthy food in the first place. Why one neighborhood has significantly higher obesity rates than another. The answers often lie in structural and systemic barriers, and that’s the level at which I try to intervene. It’s about understanding the context in which people live and tailoring solutions accordingly.

Your work centers on addressing social barriers to health. How do you approach that challenge, especially given the complexity and diversity of communities across the country?


One thing we’re very intentional about at Novartis Social Impact is recognizing that we don’t have all the answers. We’re not going into communities to prescribe solutions—we’re showing up to listen and learn.

Can you tell us more about the institutions you’re working with to carry out this community-based approach?


We’ve formed really exciting and meaningful partnerships with academic institutions that are deeply rooted in their communities. These include Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Indiana University Health, and Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. These institutions aren’t just academic leaders—they’re also trusted community anchors. By working alongside them, we’re able to support programs that are tailored to local needs while also capturing valuable data on what works. It’s a model that balances local expertise with broader strategic insights to drive impact.

What makes those partnerships with institutions like Rush,Jefferson, and University of Indiana unique in terms of impact and approach?


What I love about these partnerships is that they’re grounded in mutual respect and community knowledge. The institutions we work with aren’t just implementing interventions—they’re co-creating them with their communities. They have their ear to the ground and understand the barriers their patients face on a daily basis, whether it’s unreliable transportation to a clinic or limited access to healthy food. Our role is to listen and provide support, both in terms of funding and strategic collaboration. That mutual exchange makes the work not only more impactful but also more sustainable.

Can you provide more background as to how you view the partnership with Rush and what you hope to learn from the E3 program?

The level of expertise within the Rush team is outstanding! From the strength of their community relationships, they continue to gather relevant data on how best to address social factors upstream through education, awareness, screening, and remote monitoring in order to positively impact health outcomes.

How would you describe the partnership with Rush and what has been achieved so far?

The collaboration is rooted in listening to community needs and co-creating solutions with local healthcare leaders and experts. The approach is holistic – going beyond medical treatment to address the social factors that affect health, like food deserts and access to care. In the patients tested as part of our E3 initiative with Rush so far, blood pressure improvement was significant, with 58.4 percent of patients reducing their blood pressure below Stage II hypertension and 77.6 percent seeing a decrease in systolic blood pressure by 10 points or more.

While the Healthy Zip Codes initiative is modest in size compared to the problem, you said that data collection and scalability are paramount. Can you expand on this?

Cardiovascular disease currently poses an untenable burden on society. The American Heart Association projects that the cost of cardiovascular risk factors is projected to triple from 400 billion to 1,344 billion US dollars between 2020 and 2050. Lessons learned from innovative initiatives like Healthy Zip Codes can be replicated and applied on a larger scale to help people to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives.

Going forward, what excites you most about the road ahead as you continue to lead Social Impact and the U.S. Foundation?


What excites me the most is the opportunity to work with such incredible institutions and community leaders who are deeply committed to advancing solutions addressing barriers under-resourced and underserved communities face to achieving their optimal health. These partnerships are about so much more than grants—they’re about creating systems-level change. I’m inspired every day by the innovation, compassion, and resilience I see in the communities we partner with. And I’m honored to help bring those ideas to life by providing resources, amplifying voices, and building bridges between corporate strategy and grassroots solutions.