New York, NY— March 21, 2014 –The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) is delighted to announce the appointment of Caren A. Heller, M.D., M.B.A. as their new Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Heller will be responsible for the overall management of the organization’s mission department which includes research, patient & professional services and advocacy.
“Dr. Heller brings a wealth of medical, academic and scientific experience that we need in order to take our mission activities to the next level,” said Richard J. Geswell, President and CEO of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. ”We are expanding at a rapid pace into a number of new areas and are looking to Dr. Heller to help lead our way.”
Dr. Heller received her medical degree from Columbia University and a Masters of Business Administration from The University of Chicago. She has more than thirty years of professional experience within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and academic medical centers. She previously worked for Weil Cornell Medical College, where she most recently held the positions of Associate Dean of Intercampus and Industry Initiatives and Assistant Research Professor. In these roles, she implemented plans to promote interdisciplinary collaborations between the medical school and Cornell University faculties, facilitated the development of NIH-funded intercampus centers, promoted collaborative research projects with industry partners, and managed the intercampus pilot grant program.
Prior to Weil Cornell, she was at Athena Healthcare Consulting, working with industry and academic centers regarding new product opportunities, new drug development, and clinical and translational research. While there, she developed Models of Care, a health care information series that identified and described best practices in disease management.
She has worked with the Food and Drug Administration Advisory Committee and implemented clinical development plans resulting in drug approval. She has been published in more than 20 publications and is the recipient of the “Best Journal Article on Disease Management” honor.
“I am so impressed with the work that CCFA does and am delighted to be joining the foundation at such an exciting time,” Dr. Heller said. “Everything we do is focused on improving the lives of our patients.”
About the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America
The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) is the largest voluntary non-profit health organization dedicated to finding cures for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). CCFA’s mission is to cure Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults who suffer from these diseases. The Foundation works to fulfill its mission by funding research, providing educational resources for patients and their families, medical professionals, and the public, and furnishing supportive services for those afflicted with IBD. For more information, visit www.ccfa.org, call 888-694-8872, like us on Facebook, find us on LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter and Pinterest.
Media Contact:
Erin Mulvey Stoeber
646-943-7458
estoeber@ccfa.org
