Scripps Research creates Board of Overseers
Founding members will help guide academic, scientific and business strategies.
October 10, 2018
Scripps Research has announced the establishment of a Board of Overseers, which significantly expands the institute’s advisory network. Pete Schultz, president and CEO of Scripps Research, says the new Board will serve in an “advisory capacity to institute leadership and its Board of Directors regarding academic, scientific and business strategies, as well as provide support for the institute’s philanthropic efforts.” The 21 founding members of the Board, all of whom are listed on the institute’s website, include influencers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, academia, law, science policy, and investment.
One of the new Overseers is Rajiv Kaul, a portfolio manager and research analyst for Fidelity Investments. Widely recognized for his leadership in the biotech industry, Kaul manages Fidelity’s Select Biotechnology Portfolio and its Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology Fund. “We’re in a golden age of innovation and medicine,” he says, “with newly discovered strategies for addressing more and more of the diseases that affect the human population. Pete [Schultz] has both the scientific understanding and business expertise to accelerate delivery of these new medicines from Scripps Research and Calibr to the patient.”
Another of the Overseers ready to lend expertise is Magda Marquet, PhD. She’s the co-founder and co-CEO of ALMA Life Sciences LLC, an investment and consulting firm with a portfolio of 20 private investments. She says her three decades of experience in the biotechnology industry in both the United States and Europe will be readily shared with Scripps Research. “Let’s not forget that if San Diego is a thriving cluster for life sciences,” she says, “it all started with world-renowned academic institutions and innovative science breakthroughs. Scripps Research stands out since it combines very innovative science with the development tools and infrastructure to make it more accessible to patients faster, a very creative structure which is unique in the world.”
Joe Panetta, president and CEO of Biocom, which advocates for the life sciences industry in California, agrees. “Scripps Research has been responsible, directly and indirectly, for the development of many cutting-edge therapies, as well as the training of top scientists. It has contributed significantly to the overall global reputation of San Diego as a leading life sciences cluster.” He, too, has joined the Board of Overseers at Scripps Research.
In recent years, Scripps Research has been broadening its scope from fundamental scientific research into drug discovery and development, as well as the utilization of genomics and digital tools to promote individualized medicine. Kaul, Marquet, Panetta and the rest of the Board of Overseers bring a great amount of expertise pertinent to these growth areas. The members were announced at the institute’s Board of Directors meeting on Sept. 28.
For more information, contact press@scripps.edu