April 4, 2011 Bar Harbor, Maine – Information executive JoAnne Ruh will serve as The Jackson Laboratory’s new chief information officer (CIO), the nonprofit research institute announced today. Ruh’s experience includes the CIO positions at two other cancer institutes.
Ruh joins the Laboratory from the Nevada Cancer Institute in Las Vegas and was previously CIO at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y. — both, like The Jackson Laboratory, designated as Cancer Centers by the National Cancer Institute.
“JoAnne Ruh brings enthusiasm for our mission, experience supporting both research and administrative functions, and a desire to live in small-town coastal New England,” said Chuck Hewett, Ph.D., the Laboratory’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
“My recent time with the Nevada Cancer Institute, and previously at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, helped me to develop the skills and the experience that I need to contribute as a member of the Jackson team,” Ruh said. “Information technology is an always-changing area further complicated by the dynamic and unique research environment at the Laboratory. I look forward to the challenge.”
The current Jackson CIO, Scott McNeil, is retiring after eight years in the position. “IT at The Jackson Laboratory has come a very long way under Scott’s tenure,” Hewett said. “He has enabled us to provide outstanding information technology for our operational functions while expanding IT support for our research endeavor.”
In light of researchers’ rapidly growing needs for data capture and storage and high-speed computation, IT support will become even more critical in the years ahead, Hewett said. Professor Carol Bult, Ph.D., has agreed to serve as science IT strategy advisor to Ruh, who will start her new job in May.
“Having grown up in the Buffalo, N.Y., area,” Ruh said, “I welcome the four seasons. It has always been a dream of mine to live in a small town where I can become a part of the community. The opportunity to live in coastal Maine and to be a part of a cutting-edge organization like The Jackson Laboratory is a real bonus. My family and I are very excited about my future in Maine. I intend to continue the good work of those who came before me. The Laboratory is a world renowned organization and I am thrilled to be a part of its future.”
Ruh holds a BA in economics from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an MBA in health care administration from Canisius College in Buffalo. During her 20-year IT career, she has built expertise in IT security, governance, portfolio management and enterprise architecture, as well as disaster-recovery planning, staff development, customer training and other areas.
The Jackson Laboratory is a nonprofit biomedical research institution based in Bar Harbor, Maine. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community.
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