Cincinnati, Oh., USA - December 15, 2010, Cincinnati, Oh., USA - Procter & Gamble Company announced the appointment of Susan Desmond-Hellmann to its board of directors.
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Prior to being named Chancellor of UCSF, Ms. Desmond-Hellmann served as president of product development at Genentech, a position she held from March 2004 through April 30, 2009. During her fourteen years at Genentech, several of the company's patient therapeutics were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the company became the nation's No. 1 producer of anti-cancer drug treatments.
For her outstanding contributions in the health care industry, Ms. Desmond-Hellmann has received numerous recognitions. In October of 2010 she was named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. In November 2009, Forbes magazine named her as one of the world's seven most "powerful innovators," calling her "a hero to legions of cancer patients." Other recognitions include being named to Fortune magazine's "Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business" list in 2003-08 and in 2001.
She completed her clinical training at UCSF and is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. She holds a bachelor of science degree in pre-medicine and a medical degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley.
Prior to joining Genentech, Ms. Desmond-Hellmann was associate director of clinical cancer research at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. While at Bristol-Myers Squibb, she was the project team leader for the cancer-fighting drug Taxol.
Ms. Desmond-Hellmann also has served as associate adjunct professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF. During her tenure at UCSF, she spent two years as visiting faculty at the Uganda Cancer Institute, studying HIV/AIDS and cancer. She also spent two years in private practice as a medical oncologist before returning to clinical research. In January 2009, Ms. Desmond-Hellmann joined the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Economic Advisory Council for a three-year term. In July 2008, she was appointed to the California Academy of Sciences board of trustees.
Ms. Desmond-Hellmann was named to the Biotech Hall of Fame in 2007 and as the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Woman of the Year for 2006. She was listed among Fortune magazine’s “top 50 most powerful women in business†in 2001 and from 2003 to 2008. In 2005 and 2006, the Wall Street Journal listed Desmond-Hellmann as one of its “women to watch.†■