Melody Calkins | Director, Healthcare Policy
Biotechnology Innovation Organization

Melody Calkins is the Director of Health Policy at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), where she lead’s the organization’s public policy efforts around the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Medicare Part D, and advocacy on state PDAB regulations. Before joining BIO, Melody worked for the District of Columbia government, where she proposed and finalized dozens of rules and regulations governing the D.C. Medicaid managed care program, including 1115 waiver renewals and submissions of the District’s State Plan Amendment to CMS. Melody began her career as one of the youngest candidates to be selected for the competitive Google Public Policy Fellowship based in DC, where she developed solutions to improve healthcare price transparency using health information technologies. After moving to DC, she then worked in the U.S. Senate and at Medicaid managed care plans. Melody earned her Bachelor’s in Public Policy at the City University of Hong Kong and her Master’s degree in Healthcare Compliance at Drexel University.