Patrick Ronan is the founder and CEO of Greenleaf Health, Inc. (Greenleaf) and Vice Chair of the Validant Group. He was appointed Vice Chair in February 2023, having served as the CEO of Validant — a life science regulatory, compliance, and quality consulting firm headquartered in San Francisco — since April 2021. Prior to his leadership of Validant, he led Greenleaf as CEO from its founding in 2007. Patrick brings a sharp strategic perspective and deep knowledge of life sciences regulation from nearly 30 years of experience leading and growing expert regulatory consulting businesses and working in key roles for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency), on Capitol Hill, and at a major global pharmaceutical company.

Before starting Greenleaf, Patrick was Vice President of Regulatory Policy & External Affairs at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, where he oversaw U.S. regulatory policy issues and advised all therapeutic areas on FDA-related regulatory matters. In addition, Patrick supervised state regulatory and coverage policy and advocacy activities. He formulated and implemented the company’s U.S. regulatory policy agenda, working on policy matters and providing strategic direction to all therapeutic development teams to guide their interactions with the FDA on a full range of pre- and postmarket product-specific matters.

Patrick served as the FDA’s Chief of Staff from 2005 to 2007 and in other leadership roles throughout his four years at the Agency. As Chief of Staff, Patrick was the principal advisor on all agency issues to former Commissioners Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach and Dr. Lester M. Crawford. Patrick’s FDA career began with his appointment as Assistant Commissioner of Legislation by then-Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan. The following year, Patrick was elevated to Associate Commissioner of Legislation before being appointed Chief of Staff. His work with Congress on behalf of the FDA contributed to the enactment of important modernizations of public health laws governing the regulation of drugs, biologics, medical devices, and foods. 

Patrick’s work to advance FDA-related legislation began on Capitol Hill, where he served on the professional staff of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for then Chairman W.J. “Billy” Tauzin and Chairman Joe Barton from 2002–2004. In this capacity, Patrick was one of the lead drafters of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 and the author of numerous pieces of legislation affecting food and drugs that were signed into law. Prior to this, Patrick was Director of Government Relations at the Washington, D.C.-based Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and worked for several Members of Congress who represented the constituents of Nevada and Pennsylvania.