The University of Pennsylvania is launching a program for budding life-sciences entrepreneurs, environmentalists, government advisers and others interested in pursuing a career that combines business and science. The Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management was created through a joint effort of Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences and its Wharton School of Business. The goal of the program is to provide students with a combination of fundamental science knowledge and “business acumen.” Philip A. Rea, a Penn biology professor, is co-directing the program with Mark V. Pauly, a Wharton professor. “This program is new, yet long overdue, because it addresses a basic need -- the need for decision-makers and leaders whose understanding of the life sciences gives them a basis for decisive leadership in the business of biotech in its many guises,” Rea said. The program was established through a gift from former Merck CEO P. Roy Vagelos and his wife Diana.
