(LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 13, 2012) – CHI-California Healthcare Institute announced today the election of three biomedical industry executives to serve on the CHI board of directors. Dr. David Meeker, president and CEO of Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company Genzyme Corp., a Sanofi company; Dr. John Reed, CEO of the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute based in La Jolla; and Vera Janushkowsky, vice president of government relations for Pfizer Inc., have been elected to the board. CHI is a non-profit public policy research organization, representing leading California academic institutions, biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics and pharmaceutical firms.
“We are pleased to welcome Genzyme, Pfizer and Sanford-Burnham to our board,” said David L. Gollaher, Ph.D., CHI president and CEO. “These individuals and the institutions they represent will be instrumental in helping to inform our key issues today, including FDA regulation, federal funding of basic research and access to capital.”
Meeker, M.D., joined Genzyme, a Sanofi company, in 1994 as medical director to work on the cystic fibrosis gene therapy program. He was appointed president and CEO in October 2011. Meeker oversees and provides the vision for the company’s two business units, rare diseases and multiple sclerosis, as well as its long-standing relationships with patient communities and dedicated workforce of 10,000 employees. Prior to joining Genzyme, Meeker was the director of the Pulmonary Critical Care Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic and an assistant professor of medicine at Ohio State University. He has authored more than 40 articles and multiple book chapters. Meeker received his medical degree from the University of Vermont Medical School. He completed an internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and a pulmonary/critical care fellowship at Boston University. In 2000, he completed the advanced management program at Harvard Business School.
Reed, M.D., Ph.D., is the CEO of the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, a leading biomedical research institute with bicoastal operations in California and Florida and about 1,200 employees. Under Reed’s leadership, Sanford-Burnham has become one of America’s fastest growing research institutes, achieving impressive revenue growth and attaining the No. 1 ranking among all organizations worldwide for scientific impact (citations per publication) in the fields of biology and biochemistry for the decade of 1999-2009. Reed’s career accomplishments include authoring more than 800 scientific publications, inventorship of over 100 issued patents, winning more than 90 competitive research grants, founding several biotechnology companies, and service on the board of directors for public and private biopharmaceutical companies. Reed was named by Thomson Scientific as one of the top 10 “Doctors of the Decade” for his research publications covering the decade 1995-2005. Reed earned his medical and doctorate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1986, where he also received his clinical and postdoctoral training.
Janushkowsky is vice president of government relations for Pfizer, the world’s largest biopharmaceutical company. Based in Sacramento, Janushkowsky leads Pfizer’s lobbying, public affairs, and advocacy and professional relations state teams. The state government relations group is Pfizer’s connection with state government and policy decision makers, building legislative, grassroots and public affairs support to shape a favorable public policy environment in the states.
Janushkowsky has more than 20 years of government relations, advocacy and public affairs experience at Pfizer. Before joining Pfizer in 1991, Janushkowsky established and led the West region government relations operations and managed the political action committee for Electronic Data Systems (EDS) Corp., a high technology company based in Dallas. Prior to joining EDS in 1984, she was a political consultant with MEM & Associates, an Austin, Texas political consulting firm which designed and implemented political campaigns for legislative, gubernatorial, and congressional candidates and political parties throughout the country. She received her undergraduate degree from University of California, Berkeley.
About CHI
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.
