August 19, 2015
AZBio Honors Lynn Hudson, Ph.D. Of Critical Path Institute As 2015 Arizona Bioscience Leader
August 19, 2015 – Citing her leadership in advancing extremely complex biomedical research, the Arizona BioIndustry Association today announced that Lynn Hudson, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer for the Critical Path Institute, will be honored with the Jon W. McGarity Arizona Bioscience Leader of the Year Award during ceremonies later this year.
“Great leaders are able to bring people together to pursue a common goal and help them to achieve it,” shared Joan Koerber-Walker, president and CEO of the Arizona BioIndustry Association (AZBio). “Dr. Hudson has worked across disciplines and international borders to develop strong professional relationships to encourage disparate groups of stakeholders to come together and clearly identify objectives and focus for their work. By achieving a shared commitment, forming clear objectives, and working together to achieve them, these teams are helping to create better treatment options for patients.”
As a senior leader at the Critical Path Institute (C-Path), Hudson plays a key role in providing strategic and scientific direction that makes the collaborations successful under the organization’s “research by consortium” model. The C-Path model relies on strong scientific direction to initiate and guide the work of consortia that share data and conduct collaborative research to advance the science of drug development.
Hudson has served as Executive Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Outcome Assessments Consortium (MSOAC) since 2012. There are over eighty-five participants from nine biopharmaceutical companies, twenty-four academic institutions, and an additional eight entities including NINDS, FDA, and EMA actively working together under Dr. Hudson’s direction to develop the necessary evidence to support regulatory qualification of a performance outcome assessment instrument that can be relied upon for evaluating new treatments for MS. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has contributed $3 million in funding for this program.
In 2015, Hudson led a first-of-its-kind achievement in establishing a novel consortium to develop methods for evaluating medicines in neonates, a significantly under-represented population in drug research and medical product development. C-Path was encouraged by FDA to determine the feasibility of developing this consortium. Officially launched in London on May 19, the International Neonatal Consortium (INC) brings together academics, neonatal nurses, industry scientists, patient groups, and regulators from the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, and South Korea.
Hudson joined C-Path as Chief Scientific Officer in 2011. Prior to joining C-Path, she served as Director, Office of Science Policy Analysis, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, after leading the Laboratory of Developmental Neurogenetics at NINDS/NIH. In a career at NIH spanning 29 years, Hudson served on numerous scientific advisory panels, mentored 16 post-doctoral fellows and 7 sabbatical professors, and was the recipient of 14 awards, including the NIH Merit Award for discovery of the mutation causing PMD in 1992, the NINDS Merit Award for Educational Outreach in 2002, and the NIH Director’s Award for Comparative Effectiveness Research in 2010.
“She continues to contribute to the advancement of novel research methodologies through guiding and fostering active collaboration among scientists from the biopharmaceutical industry, academia, and government agencies. For these highly complex biomedical research problems, no one individual or entity working in isolation can find solutions. Under Dr. Hudson’s leadership and scientific direction, C-Path has demonstrated that ‘research by consortium’ advances the development of treatments in areas of unmet medical need. Lynn excels at this and has added dramatically to Arizona’s reputation as a seedbed for innovations through collaboration in consortia,” said Martha Brumfield, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Critical Path Institute.
A ceremony honoring Dr. Hudson will take place during the AZBio Awards October 1, 2015 at the Phoenix Convention Center. The AZBio Awards ceremony celebrates Arizona’s leading educators, innovators, and companies. Each year, AZBio honors bioindustry leaders from across the state of Arizona who are illustrative of the depth, breadth, and expertise of our bioscience industry.
Past recipients of the Jon W. McGarity Arizona Bioscience Leader of the Year Award include: Jack B. Jewett (Flinn Foundation); Linda Hunt (Dignity Health); Harry George (Solstice Capital); Robert Penny, MD, Ph.D. (International Genomics Consortium); Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD (NantHealth); Martin L. Shultz (Pinnacle West Capital Corp.); Michael Cusanovich, Ph.D. (University of Arizona); Jonathan Thatcher (Exeter Life Sciences); John W. Murphy (Flinn Foundation); and George Poste (Arizona State University).
For registration and more information, go to www.azbio.awards.com.
About the organizations:
C-Path (Critical Path Institute) is an independent, non-profit organization established in 2005 with public and private philanthropic support from the Arizona community, Science Foundation Arizona, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). C-Path’s mission is to catalyze the development of new approaches that advance medical innovation and regulatory science, accelerating the path to a healthier world. An international leader in forming collaborations, C-Path has established eight global, public-private partnerships that currently include over 1,000 scientists from government and regulatory agencies, academia, patient advocacy organizations, and dozens of major pharmaceutical companies. C-Path is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. For more information, visit www.c-path.org.
C-Path Contact:
Kissy Black
+1.615.298.1144
kissyblack@lotosnile.com
AZBio – The Arizona BioIndustry Association – is comprised of member organizations in business, research, government, and other professions involved in the biosciences. AZBio supports the members of the Arizona bioscience community by providing access to the key resources, connections, and information that support their ability to Connect, Collaborate, Innovate and Succeed thus supporting the growth of a thriving economic ecosystem for Arizona’s Bioscience Industry.
The AZBio Awards is just one of the exciting opportunities to connect with Arizona’s fastest growing industry sector.
For more information visit www.AZBio.org and www.AZBio.TV
Contact:
Joan Koerber-Walker, Arizona BioIndustry Association
480-332-9636
jkw@azbio.org
