Dr. Hermsen is the Lead for Global Antimicrobial Resistance & Antimicrobial Stewardship Medical Affairs at Pfizer and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine, in Omaha, Nebraska. Dr. Hermsen received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center followed by a pharmacy practice residency at The Nebraska Medical Center, a fellowship in Infectious Diseases Research at the University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy, and a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. Following her fellowship, Dr. Hermsen developed and co-directed the antimicrobial stewardship program at The Nebraska Medical Center and then joined Cubist, where she held medical affairs and outcomes research roles and created and led the Antimicrobial Stewardship Outreach Group. Subsequently, Dr. Hermsen transitioned to Merck & Co., Inc. (known as MSD outside the US and Canada), where she was a Global Health Equity Director, responsible for integrating health equity across the enterprise and supporting efforts to improve equitable outcomes, primarily focused on vaccination equity, and the Head of Global Antimicrobial Stewardship, responsible for creating and executing a global strategy to advance antimicrobial stewardship through education, implementation, research, and advocacy, across human, animal, and environmental health. Now, in her role at Pfizer, she is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the antimicrobial stewardship medical strategy.
Dr. Hermsen is a Fellow of the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). She currently serves on the SIDP Policy & Government Affairs Committee, the IDSA Leadership Development Committee, the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Antimicrobial Stewardship Project at the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy, and the Forum on Microbial Threats through the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM); and she Co-Chairs the Appropriate Use Working Group of the AMR Industry Alliance. She has contributed to the profession with numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and by serving as a reviewer for several professional journals. Dr. Hermsen has given over 100 invited presentations at state, regional, national, and international meetings, and she gave a TED talk regarding antimicrobial resistance and stewardship at TEDx Omaha 2019.