Kendra Orjada
Senior Director, Clinical Research Policy Merck
Kendra brings more than 23 years of experience leading cross‑functional programs across the life sciences and regulatory landscape. For 16 years, she served as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, supporting major federal health agencies including the FDA, NIH, and the Defense Health Agency. In this role, she guided pharmaceutical, biologics, and medical device initiatives on issues spanning oversight of clinical research, policy development, regulatory science, strategic planning, and advanced manufacturing.
Before joining Booz Allen, Kendra worked at the EMMES Corporation as the lead regulatory analyst for the National Cancer Institute’s Central Institutional Review Board and as a protocol specialist for the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Clinical Trials Network. She also held roles at the George Washington University Medical Center as an Institutional Review Board administrator and served as a lead research coordinator at both the University of Southern California and the University of Texas at Austin.
She holds an MPH from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Seminars
- Understand how evolving government priorities, including initiatives such as Operation Trialblazer, are addressing systemic barriers to clinical trial participation and improving patient access
- Explore how policy initiatives are working to integrate clinical trials more seamlessly into healthcare pathways, positioning research as part of the patient care conversation rather than a last resort
- Hear real-world examples of industry advocacy and government engagement driving change, from improving patient support to strengthening the clinical research ecosystem
