Jeffrey Leiden
LP
Jeffrey Leiden, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX), has more than 20 years of experience in the biomedical and pharmaceutical sectors. Dr. Leiden was President and COO of Abbott Laboratories, Pharmaceuticals Products Group, and a member of the Abbott Board of Directors and the TAP Board of Directors from 2000-2006. From 1987-2000 Dr. Leiden held several academic appointments including Chief of Cardiology and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of Chicago, the Elkan R. Blout Professor of Biological Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. During his academic career, Dr. Leiden was involved in starting several biotechnology companies including Vical and Cardiogene. Dr. Leiden received both his medical degree and PhD from the University of Chicago and an honorary MA from Harvard University. Dr. Leiden is a non-executive director and Vice Chairman of the Board of Shire plc (LSE: SHP), trustee of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Ravinia Music Festival. He also serves as Co-chair of the Advisory Council for Harvard Immunology and is an elected member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Previous directorships include Biolex Therapeutics, Catabasis Pharmaceuticals, Variation Biotechnologies, TyRx, Inc. and Lycera Corporation.