• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

C-Path Announces Appointment of Ellen G. Feigal, M.D., To Director of Medical Devices and Imaging, Agreement With TGen

Posted on: Monday, 24 April 2006, 15:00 CDT

The Critical Path Institute (C-Path) today announced the appointment of Ellen G. Feigal, M.D., an internationally recognized leader in cancer research, to the position of director of medical devices and imaging. Feigal will lead C-Path's industry-government collaborative programs in medical device and imaging development. This appointment will include the establishment of a C-Path satellite facility in Phoenix.

C-Path also announced the signing of a letter of intent with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) that will lead to a formal interinstitutional relationship. Feigal is on sabbatical from TGen, where she was recruited from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2004 as TGen's vice president of clinical sciences and deputy scientific director.

"I am excited about the opportunities and challenges associated with this unique public-private partnership to bring 21st century scientific advances to accelerate the development of safer and more effective medical products for patients and people at risk for disease," said Feigal.

"Dr. Feigal's scientific experience and clinical expertise in drug, device and imaging development align well with C-Path's mission to more rapidly develop smarter and safer interventions," said C-Path President and CEO Raymond Woosley, M.D., Ph.D. "Her knowledge in the area of cancer research, and her ability to forge partnerships between industry and government, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will make her a major contributor toward fulfilling C-Path's overall national mission and the vision of building the life sciences sector in Arizona. And we fully expect her new role at C-Path will result in new exciting C-Path collaborations with TGen and other scientists in the Phoenix metro area."

According to TGen's President and Scientific Director Jeffrey Trent, Ph.D., Feigal's appointment continues the collaborative momentum that has been building around the biosciences for the past several years. "We see this as a tremendous opportunity to strategically align TGen's science with C-Path's mission to bring faster, smarter and safer medical interventions to practice applications and medical care," said Trent. At TGen, Feigal has been responsible for forging clinical research partnerships with hospitals and clinics, major universities and research institutes across the state of Arizona and for developing research collaborations with the Hispanic and Native American communities. Feigal is a member of the research faculty at the University of Arizona (UA) College of Medicine, the UA College of Pharmacy and the Arizona State University College of Life Sciences.

Feigal directed the NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD) from 2001 to 2004, and served as deputy director from 1997 through 2001. DCTD's programs span drug discovery and development, diagnostics, imaging, radiation research, biometrics and a national network of first in human to later phase clinical trials. From 1992 to 1997, she was an NCI Senior Investigator in lung, head and neck cancer and AIDS malignancies.

Feigal earned a BS in biology and a MS in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of California (UC) Irvine, and her MD from UC Davis. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Stanford University and her fellowship in hematology/oncology at UC San Francisco. She was on the faculty at UC San Francisco and UC San Diego before joining the NCI.

About C-Path

The Critical Path Institute (C-Path) was established in July of 2005 as a publicly funded non-profit research and education institute to facilitate collaboration among its founding partners, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the University of Arizona and SRI International. Its mission is to facilitate the Critical Path Initiative of the FDA with the objective of faster, safer and smarter development of new medical therapies.

About TGen

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a non-profit organization focused on developing earlier diagnostics and smarter treatments. Translational genomics research is a relatively new field employing innovative advances arising from the Human Genome Project and applying them to the development of diagnostics, prognostics and therapies for cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes and other complex diseases. TGen's research is based on personalized medicine. The institute plans to accomplish its goals through robust and disease-focused research.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category