Our Team

Susan C. Winckler

Susan C. Winckler is a Senior Advisor at Leavitt Partners. Founded by former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and EPA Administrator Michael O. Leavitt, the partnership advises clients in the practice areas of health, environment and trade.

Ms. Winckler currently serves as the President and CEO of the Food and Drug Law Institute. From January 2007 to June 2009, Winckler served as the Chief of the Staff for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the Department of Health and Human Services. In that capacity, she provided integrated policy analysis and strategic consultation to the Commissioner and senior FDA officials on significant agency issues and programs; provided leadership, coordination and management of the Commissioner’s priority policies and issues; and served as the agency’s principal liaison with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Winckler also led the operations of the Office of Legislation (until April 2009), the Office of External Relations, Office of Public Affairs, and Office of the Executive Secretariat. She joined FDA in September 2006 as the Director, Policy Communications, in the Office of Policy and Planning within the Office of the Commissioner, where she served as a point person for constituent communications and policy development on key issues.

Immediately prior to joining the FDA, Winckler served as the Vice President for Policy and Communications and Staff Counsel for the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the national professional society of pharmacists. She coordinated the Association’s legislative, regulatory and private sector advocacy agenda and public relations programs; served as a frequent spokesperson for the Association for media interviews; and was the senior lobbyist for the Association on Capitol Hill. Previous positions with the Association include Group Director of Policy and Advocacy, Director of Policy and Legislation, Director of Practice Affairs, and Manager of Special Projects.

Prior to joining APhA, Winckler directed the implementation of the Iowa Medicaid Drug Prior Authorization Program for the Unisys Company, and worked for the Iowa Pharmacists Association (now the Iowa Pharmacy Association) and a community pharmacy in Iowa.

Winckler is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy and the Georgetown University Law Center, magna cum laude. Winckler served as the APhA/National Council of State Pharmacy Association Executives (NCSPAE) Executive Resident in Association Management with the North Carolina Pharmaceutical Association and the American Pharmacists Association. Winckler is a licensed pharmacist in Iowa and admitted to the bar in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Winckler resides in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband John Giglio, and their two daughters.