Prior to her illustrious career in healthcare and hospital administration in Boston, Sumaira worked as an actor/model in Hindi-/Bengali-language media, primarily in southeast Asia. Sumaira is a classically-trained Kathak dancer and has performed in prestigious venues including Madison Square Garden, the Kodak Theatre, Santiniketan, and the Rudolf Steiner Theatre.
In the summer of 2014, Sumaira was diagnosed with sero-negative neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) after experiencing sudden and severe vision loss and weakness/numbness. Less than two months after her diagnosis, she founded The Sumaira Foundation (TSF) dedicated to generating global awareness of NMOSD and MOGAD, supporting research to find a cure, patient advocacy, and creating communities of support for NMOSD and MOGAD.
In 2015, Sumaira was crowned the 1st Miss Bangladesh-USA advocating for equal opportunity education for Bangladeshi children in efforts to increase tolerance and strengthen the country’s international presence, economy, and infrastructure.
In September 2021, Sumaira was honored with WEGO Health’s “Best Kept Secret” Award recognizing her advocacy work in rare disease.
In October 2021, Sumaira was featured in a Wall Street Journal article about Medicare’s drug-pricing debate. In October 2021, Sumaira was featured in a Wall Street Journal article about Medicare’s drug-pricing debate. In 2022, Sumaira was prominently featured in an Emmy Award-winning show, Medical Stories, on PBS. You can watch the full episode, NMO: Blindsided Within here: https://youtu.be/UoYri5CDftI.
Michael has spent most of his career focused on the health care sector. He worked over 15 years at McKinsey & Company, where as a senior partner based in Tokyo he led their health care practice across the Asia-Pacific region. He has also worked extensively in the US and European markets. Michael was also a Senior Vice President for 4 years at Johnson & Johnson with responsibilities for global strategy, insights, analytics and digital. He has worked across multiple industries including pharma/biotech, medical devices/diagnostics, providers, key health care government agencies, industry associations, and global foundations.
He has lived and worked in Tokyo, London, Paris, Zurich and Brazil for a total of over 20 years and is a US/UK dual citizen. Michael holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology with highest honors from Harvard University, and he received his MBA from Stanford University with a focus on technology strategy. He is currently based in Boston.
