By Clinical Informatics News Staff 

 

November 18, 2013 | President Obama has nominated Vivek Murthy, co-founder and Chairman of TrialNetworks, to serve as the 19th US Surgeon General. 

 

In addition to his roles at TrialNetworks (see, Trial Apps One Networks at a Time), Dr. Murthy is currently an attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. In 2011, President Obama appointed Dr. Murthy to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. His past research has focused on the participation of women and minorities in cancer clinical trials, and his writings and research have been published in Science, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and The Washington Post.

 

Based on his lifelong commitment to patient wellness and his conviction that modern technology can be used to enhance collaboration among clinical researchers to accelerate drug discovery, Dr. Murthy co-founded TrialNetworks with CEO Eric Silberstein (his Harvard University classmate) and CTO Ezra Freedman.

 

“Dr. Murthy’s focus has always been on using his experience in medicine and science to find ways to help patients and improve healthcare on a broad scale,” said Silberstein in a statement. “His vision and insights led to the creation of TrialNetworks and our Clinical Trial Optimization System, which enables pharmaceutical companies to bring novel therapies to patients faster by running more efficient and higher-quality trials. It is exciting and an honor that Dr. Murthy will now have such a public platform to share and apply his expertise to benefit the health and wellness of individuals across our nation.”

 

TrialNetworks customers and clinical operations executives who know Dr. Murthy agree.

 

“Having worked with TrialNetworks for years, Dr. Murthy’s passion for improving the clinical research process is inspiring,” said Dr. Murray Abramson, MD, MPH, Vice President of Global Clinical Operations at Biogen Idec in a statement. “As a study sponsor and drug developer, I appreciate how TrialNetworks invests in its customer relationships and partners with us to create innovative technology that helps solve our clinical operational challenges. We wish him the best of luck in his new post.”

 

Upon confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Dr. Murthy will step down as Chairman of TrialNetworks.

 

Added Silberstein, “On behalf of TrialNetworks and our customers, I would like to thank Dr. Murthy for his years of guidance and friendship and congratulate him on this well-earned and honored nomination as America’s Doctor.”