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Jim Glasheen named executive vice chancellor, innovation & business development

  Jim Glasheen, PhD
 

Jim Glasheen, PhD

Jim Glasheen, PhD, a prominent venture capitalist in the biopharmaceutical, medical technology and patient-centered health fields, will join UMass Medical School on Dec. 4 as the executive vice chancellor for innovation & business development, according to an announcement from Chancellor Michael F. Collins and Dean Terence R. Flotte. Dr. Glasheen will succeed Brendan O’Leary, PhD, a scientist and former venture capitalist who, for more than three years, has led a comprehensive approach to business development, innovation and advancing industry partnerships as the office’s founding executive vice chancellor.

“This role is a key initiative that arose in the campus strategic plan and has greatly expanded the reach of our research and development and enriched our medical school research enterprise,” Chancellor Collins said. “Brendan’s successes here have created a strong foundation for Jim, who will execute a comprehensive and strategic business plan to strengthen and enlarge the size, scope and impact of our research enterprise, leveraging the commercialization of our IP portfolio through alliances, collaborations, agreements and partnerships with new and established life sciences partners.”

Glasheen is joining UMass Medical School after 15 years as a general partner in the venture capital fund Technology Partners in California. Companies in which he was an investor and/or board member include: Cadence Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Mallinckrodt), Revance Therapeutics, Iomai (acquired by Intercell), Incline Therapeutics (acquired by the Medicines Company), Transcend Medical (acquired by Novartis), Vision 5 (acquired by Allergan), Corcept and Elcelyx.

He is also the co-founder and co-chairman of the ConsumerMed, a nonprofit organization focused on patient-centered health. Prior to his venture career, he was a consultant with McKinsey and Company and was a leader within their pharmaceuticals and medical products practice. He is a graduate of Duke University and Harvard University, where he received a PhD in biology, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California Berkeley.

“It is important that we maintain the momentum that Brendan and his colleagues have created in recent years, dramatically increasing both the number and value of our collaborations with industry, which has helped diversify funding sources for our research mission and increased the possibility that our scientific discoveries will translate into meaningful advances in human health,” said Dean Flotte, the Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor of Medical Education, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the School of Medicine.