Thanks For Being Part Of Life Science Leader's Success

By Rob Wright, editor in chief, Life Science Leader

In February I received a book in the mail with this personalized note written on the inside cover, “2/23/13 To Rob, Thanks for being part of my success. Fred.” The book, Reinvent – A Leader’s Playbook For Serial Success, by Fred Hassan, was mailed to me by the author. Last month at the 2013 Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s (PhRMA) annual meeting in San Diego, I had the opportunity to return the favor and thank Fred for being part of Life Science Leader’s success. Fred was featured in our April 2011 issue, and a few months later we asked him for a favor — could he connect us with Carrie Cox, a former member of his leadership team at Schering-Plough who had since become the CEO of Humacyte? He obliged, and we were able to feature Carrie on the cover of our June 2011 issue along with Maxine Gowen, CEO of Trevena. Over the years, we have periodically reached out to Fred, and he has graciously helped us — never once asking what’s in it for him. Given that he was already helping us, I thought it only appropriate to invite him to become a member of our editorial advisory board. I am pleased to announce that he has accepted. We are thrilled to have Fred’s wealth of wisdom and experience as an asset to guide Life Science Leader to new heights.

One of Fred’s messages is to be authentic. I think this is an important point. Since the establishment of Life Science Leader’s editorial advisory board, I have called on members to provide answers to reader-submitted questions for what has become a very popular monthly feature — “Ask The Board” (page 8). Editorial advisory board members have graciously complied, and I have called on them to connect me with other key opinion leaders, participate in roundtable articles, and help me create questions for interviews and panels/discussions I moderate. Not long ago I received a letter from one of our board members, Carol Nacy, Ph.D., the CEO of Sequella. In her letter, she wrote, “I don’t say this often, or at all to any scientific journal I work with, but I can say to you that it is a pleasure to be on the editorial advisory board of Life Science Leader.” Another editorial advisory board member, Mitch Katz, Ph.D., executive director for Purdue Pharma, stated in a letter dated Jan. 28, 2013, “I attribute the quality of the magazine to your outreach and your efforts to get out into the field to learn about topics relevant to and across the pharmaceutical industry.” John Hubbard, Ph.D, SVP worldwide development operations for Pfizer, stated in a letter last year, “Thank you for your efforts to provide us with an excellent magazine.” Ron Cohen, M.D., is the CEO of Acorda Therapeutics and a recent addition to our editorial advisory board. In a letter this past February, Ron wrote, “I am pleased to join the editorial board of Life Science Leader and look forward to contributing content that will appear beside the high-quality articles that regularly appear in each issue.”

Let me be clear — the pleasure is all mine. The chief editor gets a lot of credit, which is really the result of being surrounded by an engaged editorial advisory board, a talented staff of contributing editors, exceptional publishers, and you, our readers. Thanks for being a part of our success.