BREAKING: Trudeau Institute hires new CEO

Trudeau Institute, the bio-research lab in the Adirondacks, announced this morning that a new CEO and president has been hired.  Dr. Ronald Goldfarb took the top job in Saranac Lake effective today.

The last CEO, Dr. David Woodland, resigned in July 2011, following clashes with Trudeau’s board.

Board president Benjamin Brewster hailed Goldfarb as “an accomplished biomedical researcher” and said that he had experience bringing “new technology to market.”

According to Brewster, the decision to hire Goldfarb was unanimous.

“In addition to working closely with our faculty members to continue building Trudeau’s reputation in immunology, Ron will focus on revenue diversification strategies to ensure Trudeau’s successful transition into a new era,” he said, in a prepared statement.

Here are more details from the press release and you can find more information about Trudeau’s recent financial and management troubles here.

Dr. Goldfarb, who has more than 30 years of experience in cancer research and development in both academic and industrial settings, most recently served as President, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of Sopherion Therapeutics, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, which he co-founded in 2002.
Prior to launching Sopherion, Dr. Goldfarb held a number of senior management positions heading large and complex programs in cancer research and drug development, including: Director of the Institute for Cancer Research at the University of North Texas Health Science Center; Deputy Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute; and managing Cancer Research and Drug Discovery in the Department of Immunology & Infectious Disease for Pfizer Inc.
Dr. Goldfarb has chaired multiple federal and state oncology peer-review panels/study sections for the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the Veterans Affairs Administration, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the University of California. He has also served as a member of the Veterans Affairs Merit Review Council, as well as on the scientific advisory boards of five biotechnology companies, including three of which he served as chairman.

Dr. Goldfarb also has held faculty appointments at the University of North Texas Health Science Center as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology & Immunology and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as Professor of Pathology. He has published more than 135 papers; edited or co-edited five books or special-edition journal volumes in cancer, tumor immunology and cancer therapy; and has served as associate editor for two cancer
journals and as a member of the editorial boards for three cancer journals. He is the holder of U.S. and international patents in anti-cancer drug discovery and was awarded for Outstanding Service to the Cause of Cancer Control from the American Cancer Society in 2002.

Dr. Goldfarb earned a B.A. in biological sciences in 1970 from Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York (formerly Hunter College in the Bronx) and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Dr. Goldfarb expressed his excitement about assuming the role of the Institute’s CEO: “I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to enhance the operation of the Trudeau Institute, which has a long history of world-class excellence as a premier center for immunology research.”

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