About me
Ms. Jefferson has more than 20 years of broad communications and external affairs experience working in the federal government and the biotechnology sector.
She joined ReCode Therapeutics in June 2024 as senior vice president, corporate affairs. In this role, Ms. Jefferson is responsible for the strategic leadership, development, and management of ReCode’s external and employee communications initiatives, including media, investor and stakeholder engagement.
Prior to joining ReCode Therapeutics, she served as associate commissioner of external affairs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where she set agency-wide communications strategy, served as the top communications advisor to the commissioner and was the FDA’s principal communications liaison to the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies. In this role, she led the primary communications functions for the agency, including media affairs, editorial and creative services, digital and social media and stakeholder engagement.
Before rejoining the agency, Ms. Jefferson was vice president, corporate communications and public affairs at Alector, Inc., a clinical stage neurology company. In this capacity, she built the company’s communications function, led corporate rebranding efforts and supported investor relations. Previously, Ms. Jefferson led communications at Dermira, Inc. (acquired by Eli Lilly), and Pharmacyclics, LLC, an AbbVie company.
Prior to joining Pharmacyclics, Ms. Jefferson was acting assistant commissioner for media affairs at FDA, where she served as principal communications advisor to senior leadership and a top spokesperson for the agency. Early in her career, she held communications roles with increasing responsibility at Genentech Inc. (a member of the Roche Group), the American Pharmacists Association and The McGinn Group (currently McGinn and Company).
In 2021, Ms. Jefferson was named to PR Week’s Health Influencer 30 List. She is a member of the FDA Alumni Association and previously served as a Board Member for the National Association of Continence. Ms. Jefferson holds a master’s degree in health communication from The Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Maryland, College Park.
