WALTHAM, MA — The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the quasi-public agency tasked with implementing the State’s $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, today announced the addition of three new members to the organization’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), bringing the Board’s total membership to 17. The SAB is chaired by Dr. Harvey F. Lodish, Member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Professor of Biology and Professor of Bioengineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“Our Scientific Advisory Board members come from diverse backgrounds in the life sciences industry, the investment community and academia,” said Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO of the Center. “The addition of these new members will further our SAB’s ability to support the Center’s mission of job creation and scientific advancement. Our SAB members play a critical role in our review process and in our investment decisions, and we are excited to have these talented new members contributing their time to this effort.”
“We are fortunate to have these three talented and distinguished individuals joining the Center’s Scientific Advisory Board,” said Lodish. “Alongside the current SAB members, they will play an essential role in guiding the investments of the Center in both translational academic research and early-stage companies.”
The Life Sciences Center’s SAB provides technical guidance and oversight around the Center’s scientific funding and programmatic decisions. The expert panel ensures that decisions made at the Center are made based on merit and with scientific credibility and transparency.
Biographies of the three new members are below:
GARY BORISY, Ph.D., Director and CEO, Marine Biological Laboratory
Gary Borisy became the MBL’s 13th Director and 3rd CEO in 2006. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Science and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the biotech company CombinatoRx, located in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Borisy has served as president of the American Society for Cell Biology. He is the author of more than 200 papers, the editor of two books, and has received numerous professional honors, including an NIH Merit award and the Carl Zeiss award from the German Society for Cell Biology.
RAINER FUCHS, Ph.D., Vice President, Executive Director, Biogen Idec Innovation Incubator (bi³)
Dr. Rainer Fuchs is Vice President of R&D Information Technology for Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec. He also holds the positions of Executive Director of BI3, the Biogen Idec Innovation Incubator, which he launched in 2007, and Chairman of the Board of two BI3 portfolio companies, Provasculon and Escoublac. Dr. Fuchs has been with Biogen Idec since 2000 in various executive leadership roles, including co-head of Discovery Research and VP Informatics and Operations. His experience in the biopharmaceutical industry includes senior leadership positions in life science informatics at Aventis, Ariad, and Glaxo Wellcome.
LITA L. NELSEN, Director, Technology Licensing Office, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lita Nelsen is the Director of the Technology Licensing Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she has been since 1986. She began her tenure at the MIT TLO specializing in biotechnology and has helped begin many of the biotechnology companies in Massachusetts. Previously, Ms. Nelsen spent 20 years in industry at such companies as Amicon, Millipore, Arthur D. Little, Inc., and Applied Biotechnology. She currently serves on the Board of the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation and the Mount Auburn Hospital. She is a founder of Praxis, Ltd., a non-profit company for training technology transfer professionals, for which she was awarded an MBE. She is a former president of the Association of University Technology and is an advisor to a number of international organizations concerned with the intellectual property and the development of medicines for neglected tropical diseases.
“I’m honored to be a member of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s Scientific Advisory Board,” said Borisy. “This agency is working to implement the Life Sciences Act and create jobs for Massachusetts through investment in life-saving research. I look forward to working with my fellow board members and Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister to strengthen the Commonwealth’s role as a global leader in the life sciences.”
Two of the SAB’s charter members, Dr. David Scadden and Dr. Patricia Donahoe, are rotating off of the SAB. “We want to acknowledge the wonderful contributions of Dr. Scadden and Dr. Donahoe and thank them for their support of the Center,” said Windham-Bannister. “Their contributions to the Center’s success have been invaluable.”
About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tasked with implementing the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act, a ten-year, $1 billion initiative that was signed into law in June of 2008. The Center’s mission is to create jobs in the life sciences and support vital scientific research that will improve the human condition. This work includes making financial investments in public and private institutions that are advancing life sciences research, development and commercialization as well as building ties between sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community. For more information, visit www.masslifesciences.com.
