Welcome to Health-e Law, Sheppard Mullin's podcast exploring the fascinating health tech topics and trends of the day. In this episode, Danielle Vrabie and Amanda Zablocki, partners at Sheppard Mullin and Co-Chairs of the firm’s Women in Healthcare Leadership Collaborative (WHLC), join Sara Shanti to talk about the importance of elevating women to leadership roles in healthcare. What We Discussed in this Episode: Women make up about 75% of entry-level positions in healthcare. Women make up about 32% of executive-level positions in healthcare and less than 5% are women of color. What inspired the founding of WHLC six years ago? What is WHLC’s mission? What does the growth of WHLC indicate for the evolving industry? What was the focus of WHLC’s First Annual Leadership Summit held last month? Why are women’s voices so important in terms of healthcare industry leadership? How might promoting people with frontline healthcare experience help mitigate litigation risks facing the industry? Why is it important to promote women leaders in sectors that intersect with healthcare? What will 2025 look like for WHLC? About Danielle Vrabie Danielle Vrabie is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin’s New York office and a member of the firm’s Healthcare and Life Sciences Teams. Danielle represents corporate clients and individuals in complex commercial litigation and government investigations throughout the country. A substantial portion of her practice is dedicated to serving healthcare and life sciences clients, including hospitals and health systems, physician and specialty practice groups, managed care organizations, pharmaceutical companies, long-term care providers, and medical device companies. She has experience representing these clients in a variety of contexts, including commercial disputes and litigation, enforcement actions, and government investigations. She also has significant experience defending against investigations and litigation involving allegations under the False Claims Act, Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, and similar anti-fraud statutes. In this context, she also assists companies in conducting internal investigations regarding allegations of fraud, employee misconduct, and whistleblower complaints and developing cost-effective and practical compliance and risk management programs. Danielle also helped establish and serves as Co-Chair of WHLC, which seeks to promote the advancement of women in the healthcare industry by bringing them together in a supportive community and providing them with targeted education focused on complex legal issues, healthcare innovation, and other critical issues. About Amanda Zablocki A partner in Sheppard Mullin’s New York office, Amanda Zablocki is a trusted legal and strategic advisor to healthcare organizations across the country, helping them achieve their goals while navigating a dynamic regulatory landscape. Amanda leads complex healthcare deals, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic partnerships, corporate reorganizations, and value-based care arrangements. She routinely advises on a range of healthcare and nonprofit regulatory matters, including fraud, waste, and abuse, the corporate practice of medicine, nonprofit law, tax exemption, corporate governance, and compliance matters. Her clients conclude health plans and health insurers, hospitals, academic medical centers, digital health and healthcare technology companies, integrated healthcare delivery systems, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, rare disease organizations, independent practice associations, physician practices, management services organizations, value-based enterprises, care management organizations, and 501(c)(3) organizations. In addition to helping found and serving as Co-Chair of WHLC, Amanda has devoted substantial time to supporting the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in the legal industry. She served as Co-Chair of the New York Women Lawyers’ Group (WLG) for several years before joining the firm’s WLG National Leadership Council. In her role as Chair of Sheppard Mullin’s New York Recruiting Committee, Amanda cultivates the next generation of attorneys through the firm’s highly ranked summer associate program. About Sara Shanti A partner in the Corporate Practice Group in the Sheppard Mullin's Chicago office and co-lead of its Digital Health Team, Sara Shanti’s practice sits at the forefront of healthcare technology by providing practical counsel on novel innovation and complex data privacy matters. Using her medical research background and HHS experience, Sara advises providers, payors, start-ups, technology companies, and their investors and stakeholders on digital healthcare and regulatory compliance matters, including artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), gamification, implantable and wearable devices, and telehealth...
