Anita Patel, PharmD, MS 

Walgreens

Dr. Anita Patel leads the development of Walgreens clinical pharmacy services. She is responsible for the advancement of existing clinical programs such as immunizations and medication adherence across 9,000community sites; expansion into new therapeutic areas including health screenings, and care gap closures for diabetes and hypertension; and innovation for clinical service delivery to improve access to quality care across communities. Dr. Patel also oversees the Walgreens COVID-19 strategy and execution, including vaccines, testing, data and analytics. She has over 20 years of experience in the public health and healthcare industry helping to accelerate Walgreens into its pharmacy of the future strategy.

Prior to joining Walgreens in 2022, Dr. Patel served at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 18 years in multiple leadership positions. This included leading the initial US efforts for the COVID-19 response. Dr. Patel was also instrumental in leading the design and implementation of the nation’s COVID-19 vaccine efforts for the CDC, Department of Health and Human Services, and the White House.

Anita graduated with a Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of the Sciences, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at Rutgers Post-Doctoral Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship. She holds a master’s degree in Biosecurity and Disaster Preparedness from Saint Louis University School of Public Health.