Medicines360, a global nonprofit women’s health pharmaceutical organization, has appointed Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, FACOG, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately, following a broad national search. With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Raine-Bennett has an extensive career of expanding research into women’s health and translating that research into clinical practice to improve health outcomes for women.
“At a time when women across the globe lack equitable access to affordable and effective medicines and care, I’m elated to join an organization working to address women’s unmet health needs by bringing affordable medicines to market,” said Dr. Raine-Bennett. “There are longstanding unfair, avoidable, yet solvable disparities in health access and outcomes for women. The uniqueness of Medicines360 is that its very existence is owed to filling these gaps to improve access to medicines for women.”
Dr. Raine-Bennett is a board-certified OB/GYN who has spent much of her career providing family planning services for teens and underserved women, and supporting efforts to help teens and young women manage their reproductive health needs. Dr. Raine-Bennett’s work has influenced policy to increase access to emergency contraception, including conducting the pivotal clinical trial that the FDA relied on to make Plan B emergency contraception available to adolescents over the counter. Prior to joining Medicines360, she served as senior staff physician and the Research Director of the Women’s Health Research Institute in the Division of Research at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, where her work in contraception and reproductive health helped improve the health outcomes of many women. She was previously a professor and clinical faculty in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at The University of California-San Francisco at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and has over 20 years of research experience. In addition, Dr. Raine-Bennett has contributed to over 115 peer-reviewed publications, covering a wide range of women’s health topics including contraception, reproductive health disparities, cervical cancer screening, and trends in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery.
“Systemic barriers lead to widespread disparities and restrict access and choice for too many women. Equally troubling, women of color are disproportionately impacted by these barriers. Dr. Raine-Bennett’s first-hand experience caring for women in various care settings will help ensure Medicines360 continues to identify the most pressing needs in women’s health and create new models to address them,” said Leslie Benet, PhD, Professor of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco and Medicines360 Board Chair. “Dr. Raine-Bennett will further support our efforts to develop quality medicines and implement cost reduction strategies and programs that improve equitable access for women.”
Medicines360 was founded to develop new approaches for addressing unmet women’s health needs by advancing global, equitable access to critical medicines. With the appointment of Dr. Raine-Bennett as CEO, the organization will continue expanding beyond reproductive health and contraception to also address the most pressing issues affecting women globally, from HIV prevention to maternal health outcomes.
“Even in 2021, our society has yet to fully address the crises facing women’s health,” said Dr. Raine-Bennett. “Since I began practicing, the values of social equity have been at the root of my interest in medicine, and I look forward to carrying this work through in my role leading Medicines360.”
