Fig. 8.

In 2017, Maria Palombini joined the IEEE Standards Association with a directive to build communities and advance initiatives to develop standards for enterprise adoption of emerging technologies. Her area of focus includes research on challenges and opportunities in integrating cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, machine learning, virtual/augmented reality, smart materials and blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) into the areas of pharmaceuticals, precision medicine, agriculture, and digital citizenship. She founded the Pharma Blockchain Initiative, which seeks to educate all stakeholders – patients, regulatory personnel, clinicians, pharmaceutical professionals, scientists, technologists – on the benefits and challenges of applying blockchain/DLT platforms to enable a patient-centric identity system that would benefit both the patient and critical operational areas of the pharmaceutical value chain. The work includes educating and building a global collaborative community that can reach consensus on technical standards and new protocol guidance required to enable industry buy-in for these emerging technologies and their breakthrough applications. Maria currently holds an MBA from the Rutgers Graduate School of Business and a BA and BS from Rutgers College at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey. She is an accomplished leader, public speaker, and writer, having presented at various industry events and published blogs and articles in trade publications