Former White House Top Health Security
Official to Lead Flagship's Preemptive Health and Medicine
Initiative
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 6, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Flagship Pioneering, the bioplatform innovation
company, today announced that globally distinguished healthcare
expert, entrepreneur, and public policy leader Raj Panjabi, M.D.,
MPH, will join Flagship as Senior Partner. Dr. Panjabi will lead
Flagship's Preemptive Health and Medicine Initiative (PH&M),
which is pioneering a new field to protect, maintain, or improve
people's health before they get sick. In its fifth year, the
initiative is grounded in the premise that health should be
accessible for all and pursues interventions that protect health
from external threats (health security) and prevent or delay the
onset of diseases (preemptive medicine).
Dr. Panjabi previously served as White House Senior Director and
as President Biden's top pandemic and health official at the
National Security Council. During his tenure at the White House, he
helped lead several health security initiatives including the
historic COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the White House's 2022
National Biodefense Strategy and American Pandemic Preparedness
Plan, the 2022 U.S. Global Health Security Act, and the President's
2022 Executive Order to Advance Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing
Innovation.
In this newly created role, Dr. Panjabi will collaborate with
Professor the Lord Ara Darzi of
Denham, Flagship Special Advisor and Chairman of the Preemptive
Health and Medicine Initiative, in providing strategic leadership
and vision for the development and growth of projects and
directions within PH&M. Current companies and projects within
this initiative include Harbinger Health, Apriori Bio and several
early-stage projects. Dr. Panjabi will work closely with Flagship's
origination teams to translate cutting-edge science and
technological advancements into actionable healthcare solutions. He
will also engage with leading experts, stakeholders, and
policymakers to drive policy and advocacy initiatives and strategic
partnerships to promote the integration of preemptive healthcare
approaches.
"Raj's impressive career has been characterized by his
dedication to innovative and proactive healthcare strategies that
yield robust results, including his vital role in the White House's
National Biodefense Strategy and the President's Malaria
Initiative," said Noubar Afeyan,
Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. "We look forward to
the impact Raj will have accelerating the Preemptive Health and
Medicine Initiative for Flagship, working alongside Ara who has led
the initiative as its chairman since its infancy."
"Flagship's demonstrated commitment to innovation and track
record of partnership showcases the role the private sector can
play in a global health emergency response," said Dr. Panjabi. "The
Preemptive Health & Medicine Initiative is well positioned to
help transform the future of healthcare through proactive
strategies, and I look forward to joining the team on its visionary
journey to improve healthcare outcomes through preemptive
medicine."
Dr. Panjabi's appointment follows a recent expansion of Flagship
Pioneering's leadership team, with appointments and promotions of
senior leaders.
About Raj Panjabi, M.D., MPH
The Honorable Raj Panjabi is former White House Senior Director
and globally recognized as a distinguished authority in healthcare,
public policy, entrepreneurship, and technology.
As White House Senior Director, Dr. Panjabi served as President
Biden's top pandemic and health official at the National Security
Council, where he played a pivotal role in the largest
vaccination campaign in history against COVID-19 and responses to
public health crises, including mpox, influenza and Ebola. He
played a lead role executing the 2022 National Biodefense Strategy
and American Pandemic Preparedness Plan, coordinating over
$12 billion in annual investment
across 16 federal agencies in biodefense, including in
diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. Dr. Panjabi also helped
oversee implementation of the President's 2022 Executive Order to
Advance Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation and the 2022
U.S. Global Health Security Act, authorizing $5 billion and expanding health investments
across 50 countries. He co-developed President Biden's COVID-19 and
health security initiatives with the G7, G20, and regional bodies,
and efforts to organize Presidential Summits, launch the Pandemic
Fund at the World Bank, negotiate the WHO International Health
Regulations and Pandemic Accord, and uphold the UN Biological
Weapons Convention.
Previously, Dr. Panjabi led the President's Malaria Initiative,
helping launch the world's first malaria vaccine, create a strategy
to prevent 1 billion cases, and manage a $800 million enterprise protecting 700 million
people across 30 countries. Dr. Panjabi is co-founder and former
CEO of Last Mile Health, a global organization transforming
community health systems.
Dr. Panjabi has been a senior advisor to several biotech
companies and has served on the boards of private sector companies,
non-profits, and other initiatives. He currently serves on the
boards of WHO Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Last Mile Health, among
others, and on the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense. He serves
on the faculty at Harvard Medical
School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
One of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the World and
TIME's 50 Most Influential People in Healthcare, and twice named to
the FORTUNE World's 50 Greatest Leaders list, Dr. Panjabi has
received the TED Prize, Clinton Global Citizen Award, and World
Economic Forum's Social Entrepreneur of the Year award. He was
knighted by President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf and the Government of Liberia. He trained in biochemistry,
epidemiology and biostatistics, and medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts General
Hospital.
About Flagship Pioneering
Flagship Pioneering invents and builds bioplatform companies,
each with the potential for multiple products that transform human
health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has
originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures,
resulting in more than $75 billion in
aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $3.8 billion in capital toward the founding and
growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $27 billion of follow-on investments from other
institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises 40
companies, including Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ:
FHTX), Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Omega Therapeutics
(NASDAQ: OMGA), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ:
SANA), Generate Biomedicines, Inari, Indigo
Agriculture, and Tessera Therapeutics.
Media Contact
press@flagshippioneering.com
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