NEW YORK, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) today announced the appointment of Katie Hood as chief executive officer.
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Ms. Hood, who joined the Foundation in September 2002, has been serving as interim CEO since October. As chief executive officer, she will build on the Foundation's strategy of inserting itself proactively into the research process to advance scientific breakthroughs, including the expansion of current initiatives to:
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-- validate promising drug targets, thereby opening new opportunities for drug development;
-- increase investment in various stages of pre-clinical research and chaperoning pre-clinical hits from stage to stage;
-- selectively support clinical projects with the potential to improve patients' lives in the near-term; and
-- drive high-risk, high-reward attempts to uncover new research tools such as biomarkers.
Ms. Hood stated, "The Michael J. Fox Foundation has evolved into an organization willing to do whatever it takes to accelerate life-transforming treatments for Parkinson's patients - going beyond innovative funding mechanisms to work to change a flawed system that too often fails to translate research into results. Over the past seven years, we have built a unique expertise about Parkinson's research that we intend to leverage for impact over the coming months and years. Our capital should be -- and will be -- used to drive progress in ways that other funding sources are not."
David Golub, chairman of the Board of Directors of The Michael J. Fox Foundation, said: "We are committed to a strategy of working relentlessly to close critical gaps in the process of moving potential treatments from the laboratory to Parkinson's patients, and have worked with Katie and the entire executive team to develop a compelling vision of how that approach should be enhanced and extended for greater impact. The Board is confident that Katie is the right person to lead the MJFF forward and is sure that our efforts will result in scientific breakthroughs that ultimately translate into novel and effective therapies."
Ms. Hood will continue to provide day-to-day management and oversight of all Foundation activities and will specifically oversee fundraising, the Foundation's research team and communications, administration and financial management. Ms. Hood will report to the Board of Directors.
Before October of this year, Ms. Hood had served as deputy CEO of MJFF and, earlier, as vice president of research programs. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Hood was employed as a consultant at Bain & Company in New York City, doing work in the consumer products, financial services, and nonprofit sectors. She has also served as an analyst in the Credit Department of Goldman, Sachs & Co., and as a program coordinator with Duke University's Hart Leadership Program. Ms. Hood graduated from Harvard Business School and holds a BA in Public Policy Studies from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. A full biosketch is available at http://www.michaeljfox.org.
About The Michael J. Fox Foundation
Founded in 2000, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is dedicated to ensuring the development of a cure for Parkinson's disease within this decade through an aggressively funded research agenda. The Foundation has funded $100 million in research to date.
SOURCE Michael J. Fox Foundation
