Working for a cure for Type 1 diabetes. An interview

Alan J Lewis, PhD, joined the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) as President and CEO in January 2009. JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of Type 1 research. Prior to joining JDRF, Dr Lewis served as President, CEO and Director of Novocell, Inc., since 2006. Novocell is a stem cell engineering company dedicated to creating, delivering and commercializing cell and drug therapies to treat diabetes and other chronic diseases. Previously, Dr Lewis served as CEO and Director of Signal Pharmaceuticals before its acquisition in 2000 by Celgene, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of small-molecule drugs for cancer and immunological diseases. He then served as President of the Signal Research Division at Celgene. Dr Lewis previously held the position of Vice President of Research at Wyeth-Ayerst, where he spent 15 years leading research efforts in diabetes, CNS, cardiovascular, inflammatory, allergy and bone metabolism diseases. Dr Lewis currently serves as a Director of BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc., Cytochroma, Inc., BIOCOM, and the Scottish Stem Cell Network. Dr Lewis received a BSc. in Physiology and Biochemistry from Southampton University, Southampton, Hampshire, UK, a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Wales, Cardiff, UK and completed his postdoctoral training at Yale University. He is also an Honorary Fellow and Chair of the Life Sciences Department at the University of Wales in Swansea, UK.