National Health Policy Expert and Entrepreneur to Lead the North Carolina Biotechnology Center
Leslie M. Alexandre will take the helm as President, CEO, in August
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., June 17, 2002 — Leslie M. Alexandre, a veteran health care professional with extensive public and private experience in national health policy, government affairs, communications, marketing and business development, has been named president and chief executive officer of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. She will start the job Aug. 1.
Leslie Alexandre"I'm looking forward to the challenges and opportunities of this position," Alexandre said. "North Carolina is the nation's fourth largest biotechnology state, and the Biotechnology Center is essential to the industry's continued development here. I'm excited about developing relationships with all of the Center's constituencies and working with an exceptional staff and board of directors to expand North Carolina's leadership position in this vital industry."
Alexandre, 44, is assistant director for industrial relations at the National Cancer Institute, where she has been responsible for building relationships with the private sector and encouraging scientific collaborations with industry to accelerate cancer research.
She will replace Dr. Charles E. Hamner, who retired March 31 after more than 14 years as president and CEO of the Biotechnology Center. The Center's board of directors conducted an extensive national search for his replacement, and selected Alexandre after meeting with several exceptional candidates.
"A thorough and careful national search yielded the best possible outcome: a smart, skillful, and nationally respected new Center president," said Dr. Enriqueta Bond, chairman of the Center's board of directors. "We always want the best for North Carolina, and in Dr. Alexandre we have again gained it."
Born in Vancouver, Wash., Alexandre grew up in San Mateo, Calif. She obtained an undergraduate degree in community health administration from the University of California, Davis, and a master's degree in public health and a doctor of public health degree, both from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Before joining the National Cancer Institute in 1999, Alexandre was vice president of corporate affairs and marketing at Oncormed Inc., a biotechnology company in Gaithersburg, Md., and was a government affairs representative for health policy at EDS in Washington, D.C. She previously held senior policy positions with two U.S. senators – Dave Durenberger of Minnesota and John Heinz of Pennsylvania – and developed a successful health care consulting practice in Los Angeles serving Fortune 100 clients.
W. Steven Burke, the Center's senior vice president for corporate affairs and external relations, who directed the presidential search process, said, "The Center is poised to begin its third decade of national and international leadership. Dr. Alexandre's vision will ensure new strengths for the Center and new gain for the state's rapidly growing biotechnology community."
The Biotechnology Center is a private, non-profit corporation established by the state's General Assembly in 1981 as the nation's first state-sponsored biotechnology initiative. The Biotechnology Center's mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina through support of biotechnology research, business and education statewide.
Contact: W. Steven Burke, senior vice president for corporate affairs and external relations, 919-541-9366.
