C-Path Appoints Neuropharmacology Expert as New Vice President – Rare and Orphan Disease Programs

Dr. Collin Hovinga will lead two public-private partnerships at C-Path — the Rare Disease Cures Accelerator Data and Analytics Platform (RDCA-DAP®) and the Critical Path for Rare Neurodegenerative Diseases (CP-RND).

TUCSON, Ariz., October 27, 2022 — Critical Path Institute (C-Path) today announced the appointment of Collin Hovinga, Pharm.D., MS, FCCP as Vice President for its Rare and Orphan Disease Programs, and lead for both its Rare Disease Cures Accelerator-Data and Analytics Platform (RDCA-DAP) initiative and Critical Path for Rare Neurodegenerative Diseases (CP-RND) public-private partnership. RDCA-DAP focuses on rare disease data sharing and accelerating therapy development. CP-RND focuses on the accelerating the development of therapies for patients living with rare neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS.

Hovinga comes to the role, from the Institute for Advance Clinical Trials for Children (I-ACT) where he was Senior Vice President of Clinical and Scientific Affairs responsible for leading competitive and non-competitive projects that helped to advance drug development in pediatric patients. Among his accomplishments, was the establishment of real-world data and consultative activities at I-ACT. He was instrumental in creating collaborations among the international pediatric research networks in Europe (conect4children), Canada (MICYRN), Australia and Japan. Dr. Hovinga is currently a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Drug Safety Risk Management (DSRM) Advisory Committee and has held other FDA appointments in CNS/PNS. He also serves as a medical advisor for multiple rare disease advocacy organizations.

A recognized expert in neuropharmacology, Hovinga has been active in studying factors that influence the efficacy, safety and the pharmacology of antiepileptic drugs in children, patient adherence to medications and acute seizure management.

“With more than 20 years of experience in rare disease and pediatric drug development, we are excited to add Collin to our executive leadership team and have him step in to lead our rare and orphan disease initiatives focused on advancing therapies for rare diseases,” said C-Path CSO Klaus Romero, M.D., M.S. FCP “His expertise in medical strategy, clinical trials, regulatory affairs, novel trial designs and use of real-world data is sure to help C-Path elevate our own programs.”

As VP, and in partnership with senior leadership, Hovinga will guide all operational and scientific activities for key C-Path efforts in rare and orphan diseases, RDCA-DAP and CP-RND. These activities will include continuing outreach and collaboration with the rare disease community to optimize data usability and availability, as well as transforming such data into actionable knowledge to advance drug development for rare and orphan conditions.

“I have long admired C-Path’s vision to be a partner of excellence in transforming the medical product development process worldwide,” said Hovinga. “I have been a collaborator in the RDCA-DAP initiative since it was launched in 2019 and I look forward to working with leadership and the team to continue to build on the great impact C-Path has made in the rare disease drug development ecosystem.”

Hovinga has been a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Texas, Austin, College of Pharmacy, for more than a decade where he teaches courses in neurology, pediatrics clinical drug development and interprofessional education. His research at the college is focused in various pediatric and adult pharmacotherapy and outcome areas.

Prior to I-ACT, he served as Director of Research Support Services, directing research trials office for the largest nonprofit healthcare system in the U.S., the Ascension Hospital System.

Hovinga completed his Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and completed a residency and fellowship in pediatric pharmacotherapy with emphasis in pediatric neuroscience at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, LeBonheur Children’s Medical Center.

He has had a Fellowship at the FDA Office of Clinical Pharmacology and a Masters of Epidemiology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. His additional fellowship training was in pediatrics and drug development from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center/LeBonheur Children’s Medical Center and in outcomes research/process engineering at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

RDCA-DAP is a collaboration between C-Path and the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), funded by the FDA, created to provide a centralized and standardized infrastructure to accelerate and optimize the quantitative characterization of rare diseases, with the goal of accelerating therapy development.

Announced by FDA and NIH, and convened by C-Path, in September 2022, the new public-private partnership, CP-RND, will bring together multiple experts in rare neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS, as well as private entities, patient communities and advocacy organizations to accelerate and advance our understanding of disease pathology, treatment options, diagnostics and drug development.

About Critical Path Institute
Critical Path Institute (C-Path) is an independent, nonprofit organization established in 2005 as a public and private partnership. 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 numerous global consortia that currently include more than 1,600 scientists from government and regulatory agencies, academia, patient organizations, disease foundations, and hundreds of pharmaceutical and biotech companies. C-Path U.S. is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, C-Path in Europe is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands and C-Path Ltd. operates from Dublin, Ireland with additional staff in multiple other locations. For more information, visit c-path.org.

Critical Path Institute is supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is 54.2% funded by the FDA/HHS, totaling $13,239,950, and 45.8% funded by non-government source(s), totaling $11,196,634. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, FDA/HHS or the U.S. Government.

Contact:

Kissy Black
C-Path
615.310.1894
kblack@c-path.org