CEO, Vital Transformation
Duane Schulthess is the CEO of Vital Transformation, an economics consultancy based in Brussels, Belgium and Washington, DC, focusing on healthcare and biopharma sectors. He has been a member of the U.S. Congressional Health Care Task Force, working closely with regulators, multi-national corporations, governments, and stakeholder groups clarifying the impact of health policy changes and technological innovations.
Mr. Schulthess’ recent 2025 research publication titled “The Inflation Reduction Act’s Impact Upon Early-Stage Venture Capital Investments” has played a pivotal role in the Trump Administration’s decision to sign an executive order to amend the legislation’s ‘pill penalty’. Duane is also the host and Executive Producer of the Vital Health Podcast, which has been ranked in the top 30 healthcare podcasts by traffic.
Previously, he was the EMEA Head of Corporate Development of The Wall Street Journal and received his MBA from KU Leuven’s Vlerick Management School. He was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship to study the French horn at London’s Royal Academy of Music and has a BA Magna Cum Laude from the University of the Pacific where he studied music and managerial economics, graduating Phi Kappa Phi. He is a senior associate of the UK’s Royal Society of Medicine.