(Press-News.org) The PhRMA Foundation announced the appointment to its Board of Directors of Dr. John C. Reed, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President of Innovative Medicine R&D at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), and Dr. Donatello Crocetta, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Medical Communities at UCB.
The PhRMA Foundation is a 60-year-old nonprofit that fosters biopharmaceutical innovation and value-driven health care by investing in the frontiers of research. The Foundation catalyzes the careers of promising researchers through competitive, peer-reviewed grants and fellowships.
“With their exceptional leadership experience and deep knowledge of the industry, Dr. Reed and Dr. Crocetta will be instrumental to the PhRMA Foundation’s efforts to support cutting-edge research and the careers of promising early career scientists,” said PhRMA Foundation President Amy M. Miller, PhD. “I look forward to working with them to ensure the Foundation is funding innovative science that has the potential to advance patient health.”
Dr. Reed is a biomedical research leader with a distinguished career across nonprofit, academia, and industry. His mission is to focus J&J’s research and development teams at the intersection of unmet medical need and innovation to change the trajectory of human health. Employing multiple drug modalities, his team works across a wide range of therapeutic areas, including oncology, cardiopulmonary, immunology, and neuroscience. He encourages a culture that is fast-paced and open to reimagining how life-saving medicines are discovered, developed, and delivered.
Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson in April 2023, Dr. Reed held executive leadership positions at Sanofi and Roche, serving on their respective executive committees. He previously served as CEO of Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (now Sanford Burnham Prebys), where he established multiple therapeutic area-aligned research centers and platform technology centers. Dr. Reed replaces Board member Dr. Aran Maree, MD, who left Johnson & Johnson for a new opportunity. Dr. Reed previously served on the Foundation’s Board when he worked at Sanofi.
“It’s a privilege to rejoin the PhRMA Foundation Board during a transformative time for the industry,” Dr. Reed said. “Investing in future scientific leaders is incredibly important as the research community pursues solutions to some of the most pressing health challenges of our time.”
With over 24 years of health care experience, Dr. Crocetta has dedicated his career to improving patients’ lives. In his current role at UCB, he fosters clinical and medical strategy and oversees the risk-benefit profile of the entire portfolio. As a core member of UCB’s early development governance committees, he is involved in the technical review and validation of interim and topline results of proof of concept and early clinical studies. Dr. Crocetta also leads Medical Affairs, driving therapeutic area strategy, evidence generation, scientific communication, and managed access programs. He collaborates closely with regulatory bodies, scientific institutions, and patient organizations, focusing on transforming outcomes for patients living with immunological, neurological, and rare diseases, and driving equitable access through innovative science and clinical research.
Dr. Crocetta previously held senior roles at Takeda, Shire, and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, overseeing medical and clinical development strategies for multiple therapeutic areas and successfully launching transformative therapies worldwide. Dr. Crocetta replaces Board member Dr. Iris Loew-Friedrich, MD, PhD, who recently retired from her role as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President at UCB.
“The PhRMA Foundation’s commitment to fostering groundbreaking research and supporting the next generation of scientists aligns deeply with my passion for improving patient health,” Dr. Crocetta said. “I am truly honored to join the esteemed Board and contribute to guiding the Foundation in its vital mission to advance biomedical research. Supporting early-career scientists is crucial for fostering scientific innovation, and I am excited to help drive this impactful work forward.”
View the PhRMA Foundation Board of Directors.
END
PhRMA Foundation welcomes two board members
2025-02-11
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Microbiome as a potential key to better treatment: Clinical study on new therapy for Crohn's disease
2025-02-11
A special liquid diet, known as exclusive enteral nutrition, is an essential therapy for Crohn's disease. Patients consume only this formula for six to eight weeks, completely avoiding solid foods. However, the exact reasons why this is helpful were previously unclear. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the LMU University Hospital Munich have now been able to decipher the mechanism behind this dietary therapy. Based on these results, they are launching a clinical study combining dietary therapy with faecal microbiome transfer to further enhance ...
AI predicts the precursor materials needed for material synthesis
2025-02-11
Researchers in Korea have developed a technology that automatically identifies the necessary precursor materials to synthesize specific target materials.
A joint research team led by Senior Researcher Gyoung S. Na from the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and Professor Chanyoung Park from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed an AI-based retrosynthesis methodology that predicts the required precursor materials solely based on the chemical formula of the target material without expensive material descriptors ...
International Shark Attack File Report: Unprovoked shark bites plummeted in 2024
2025-02-11
2024 was an exceptionally calm year for shark bites. Worldwide, there were only 47 unprovoked attacks, down 22 from the previous year and well below the 10-year average of 70. Four of last year’s attacks resulted in fatalities, also a significant reduction from recent years.
The International Shark Attack File, maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History, provides data on what are considered unprovoked bites, defined as incidents in which a person does not initiate contact with a shark. Instances in which a person intentionally or unintentionally initiates contact, including spearfishing and releasing sharks ...
Ketamine for mental health should only be provided by trained professionals
2025-02-11
CHICAGO – The anesthetic ketamine is being hailed as a breakthrough therapy for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatment-resistant depression and other mood disorders. But the drug does have side effects – some potentially life-threatening – and should only be prescribed and administered by trained health care professionals to ensure the patient’s safety, according to new guidance released by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).
Long valued for its role in sedation and anesthesia during medical procedures, ...
Study takes a ‘bite’ out of shark depredation using citizen science
2025-02-11
Shark depredation is a hot-button issue in recreational fishing, as anglers face off against these stealthy ocean bandits. These underwater thieves snatch fish straight off the line, often leaving nothing but scraps – or a broken leader – as evidence of their heist.
The Southeast, a major hub for saltwater fishing, is a depredation “hot spot” due to high fishing activity. While fisheries managers in the United States monitor shark depredation in commercial fisheries, efforts to evaluate these interactions in recreational fishing have been limited.
With Florida’s recreational ...
A gender gap in using AI for research
2025-02-11
After the launch of ChatGPT male researchers’ productivity rate increased, pointing to a gender difference in how scientists use AI. Previous work has shown that men are more likely to use generative AI in their work than women. Shaobo Li and colleagues analyzed preprints uploaded to the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), one of the largest open-access repositories in the world, from May 2022 to June 2023. ChatGPT was released in late November 2022. After the release of ChatGPT, the productivity of male researchers significantly increased relative to that of female researchers, with the probability ...
Human-caused fires growing faster than lightning fires in the Western US
2025-02-11
A study shows that there are almost twice as many risky days for large human-caused fires in the American West as there are for lightning-caused fires, due to differences in the level of heat and aridity under which each type of fire is likely to occur. The discrepancy is not accounted for in most fire early warning systems. In addition, risky days for human-caused fires are growing faster than risky days for lighting-caused fires as the climate warms.
Fa Li and colleagues focused on Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD), which captures both dryness ...
Barbeque and grandma’s cookies: New study looks at nostalgia, comfort in food preparation for older adults
2025-02-11
PULLMAN, Wash. — Foods that evoke a sense of nostalgia and comfort and have good texture variety are important considerations in prepared meals aimed at older adults, according to new Washington State University research.
“We want to help the prepared food industry produce appetizing, healthy meals for older adults,” said Carolyn Ross, professor in WSU’s School of Food Science. “Malnutrition is quite prevalent in people over 60 because food may be available, but they won’t eat it if they don’t like it. We want to walk a line where food is tasty, convenient, and full of nutrients.”
In a paper recently published ...
The political consequences of undocumented residents in the census
2025-02-11
In recent years, some public figures have argued that undocumented residents in the United States should not be included in census data used for congressional apportionment because their inclusion unfairly benefits Democratic-leaning states. John Robert Warren and Robert E. Warren analyzed data from every census from 1980 through 2020 and used high quality state-level estimates of the size of the undocumented resident population at each time point. The authors then calculated how many House seats and how many Electoral College votes would have changed had undocumented residents been excluded from the data after each census. Previous efforts to ...
Purity and environmental concern
2025-02-11
Attitudes about climate change and carbon footprints show strong regional patterning. Farzan Karimi-Malekabadi and colleagues investigated the role of moral values in these geographic patterns. The authors used Moral Foundations Theory, which posits that moral judgements emerge from deeply held intuitions about care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and purity. The authors used opinion surveys, comprising 12,061 respondents, conducted from 2008–2013 that measured beliefs regarding the reality, human causation, and negative impacts of climate change, as well as estimates of household carbon footprint provided by UC Berkeley CoolClimate Network. This data ...