Koneksa Appoints Dr. Maria C. Freire to Board of Directors

“Koneksa is privileged to have Dr. Freire join our Board of Directors. She will provide invaluable experience, from her background in public health and government affairs, to her extensive board leadership contributions, as we seek to expand the reach and impact of our digital biomarker products and platform,” said Chris Benko, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Koneksa. “In particular, Dr. Freire’s previous leadership experience with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), including the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium, is critical as we continue to advance our digital biomarker pipeline and platform, identify opportunities to access external innovation, and expand digital biomarker into new sectors.”

“I’m thrilled to join the Board of Directors at Koneksa. The company has successfully advanced an innovative suite of digital biomarker products to market, and established a strong commercial capability, which is driving revenue growth and new research and development,” said Dr. Maria C. Freire, Board Member, Koneksa. “This is how innovative life sciences companies are created, and it is an honor to join this Board and support the management team to drive digital biomarker adoption in clinical trials to improve patient outcomes and get therapies to patients faster.”

Dr. Freire was the President, Executive Director and member of the Board of Directors of the FNIH, a nonprofit organization committed to accelerating biomedical research and advancing breakthrough discoveries to fight critical diseases. She served in that role from 2012-2021, making her the longest-serving leader of the FNIH since its inception 25 years ago. Under the leadership of Dr. Freire, FNIH substantially increased its revenue, attracted dedicated, world-class staff, advisors and partners and provided streamlined, cost-effective and highly productive operations.

Prior to FNIH, Dr. Freire was President and member of the Board of Directors of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, which supports biomedical research. Dr. Freire also served as President and CEO of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Freire is currently on the Board of Directors of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Biogen, and Exelixis. She has served on the boards of numerous national and international organizations, including the Science Board of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health and the United Nations Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines.

Dr. Freire is the recipient of numerous awards, including the HHS Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, the Arthur S. Flemming Award, and the Bayh-Dole Award. She holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Virginia and a B.S. from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Counsel on Foreign Relations.

About Koneksa

Koneksa is a leading patient-centric digital biomarker company for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries that develops end-to-end solutions for remotely collected clinical measures. Koneksa supports agile decision-making in drug development and market strategy. By delivering integrated solutions for efficient trial designs that produce more meaningful data, Koneksa aims to revolutionize treatment effect detection in clinical research. Learn more at www.koneksahealth.com. Follow us on Twitter @koneksa.

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