LA JOLLA, Calif. - April 11, 2014 – California Healthcare Institute (CHI) announced today the election of five senior executives to serve on its board of directors: Jeffrey D. Armstrong, Ph.D., president, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Donald E. Bobo, Jr., corporate vice president, heart valve therapy, Edwards Lifesciences; Kenneth E. Drazan, M.D., head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centers in California; Michael “Mick” Farrell, chief executive officer, ResMed and Douglas S. Ingram, Esq., president, Allergan.
CHI is a nonprofit, public policy research organization, representing leading California academic institutions, biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics and pharmaceutical firms. “We proudly welcome leaders from Allergan, Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo, Edwards Lifesciences, Johnson & Johnson and ResMed to our board,” said CHI President and CEO, Todd Gillenwater. “Douglas, Jeffrey, Donald, Kenneth and Mick will help shape CHI’s agenda and broad support for our collective mission in advancing the life sciences industry.”
Jeffrey D. Armstrong, Ph.D., began his presidency at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in February 2011. Leading Cal Poly, Armstrong has focused on bolstering student success by expanding university-industry partnerships to attract more applied research to the campus, thereby increasing professional development and enriching classroom instruction. This keeps with Cal Poly’s added emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
Before joining Cal Poly, Armstrong served as dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and professor of animal science at Michigan State University, beginning in 2001. He was also head of the Department of Animal Sciences at Purdue University from 1997 to 2001 and served in various positions at North Carolina State University from 1986 through 1997. Armstrong attended Murray State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture. He earned both a master’s degree and doctorate in physiology from North Carolina State University.
Donald E. Bobo, Jr. is corporate vice president, heart valve therapy at Edwards Lifesciences. Serving in this role since 2007, he is responsible for the company’s global surgical heart valve business, including valve replacement and repair devices and valve operations. Bobo joined Edwards Lifesciences in 1995 and served as its vice president and general manager of trans-catheter mitral repair and as vice president, corporate strategy, before assuming his current role.
Prior to his arrival at Edwards Lifesciences, Bobo held various positions at American Hospital Supply, Baxter Healthcare and InnerSpace Medical. Bobo holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in engineering.
Starting March 2014, Kenneth Drazan, M.D. took over as head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centers in California. Drazan is also co-founder and emeritus partner at Bertram Capital Management LLC, where he oversaw healthcare investments at the firm. A board certified and award-winning surgeon, Drazan has been a life science executive and co-founder of several drug discovery companies, including Arginox Pharmaceuticals, EnGen Bio, Cardero, Genesoft Pharmaceuticals and PinPoint Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, Drazan was a leading academic liver transplant surgeon and scientist at Stanford University and UCLA. Drazan received his M.D., cum laude, from the State University of New York and bachelor’s degree in economics, cum laude, from Yale University.
Michael “Mick” Farrell has been chief executive officer of ResMed since March 2013. Farrell joined the company in 2000 and has served in multiple roles, including president of ResMed Americas, SVP of a global business unit for sleep apnea therapeutics and diagnostics, and various senior marketing and business development roles.
Prior to his tenure at ResMed, Farrell worked in management consulting, biotechnology, chemicals and steel manufacturing at Arthur D. Little, Genzyme Corporation, The Dow Chemical Company and BHP Billiton. Farrell holds a bachelor of engineering, with first-class honors, from the University of New South Wales, a master of science in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Mr. Ingram was appointed President of Allergan on July 1, 2013. Prior to assuming his current role, Mr. Ingram served as Executive Vice President and President, Europe, Africa and Middle East and, prior to that, as Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, and Secretary. In this role, he led Allergan’s Global Legal Affairs, Compliance, Internal Audit and Internal Controls, Human Resources, Regulatory Affairs and Safety, and Global Corporate Affairs and Public Relations departments. Mr. Ingram has also served as General Counsel and as Secretary and Chief Ethics Officer. Prior to joining Allergan, Mr. Ingram was an attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
“With their varied backgrounds from the academic, biomedical and therapeutic arenas their additions to the board will boost our efforts in representing our members in both Sacramento and Washington,” said Gillenwater.
CHI’s board of directors is currently comprised of 29 members.
About CHI-California Healthcare Institute
CHI represents more than 275 leading biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics and pharmaceutical companies, and public and private academic biomedical research organizations. CHI’s mission is to advance responsible public policies that foster medical innovation and promote scientific discovery. CHI’s website is www.chi.org. Follow us on Twitter @calhealthcare, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Contact:
Erica Hiar
Hiar@chi.org
858-456-8885
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