LifeScience Alley Board of Directors Elects New Officers

LifeScience Alley has elected two new leaders.

The trade group’s Board of Directors is now being led by Board Chairman Robert Kieval, executive vice president and chief technology officer of CVRx Inc.; and Vice-Chair Rachel Ellingson, vice president of global communications for St. Jude Medical Inc. and president of the St. Jude Medical Foundation. Additionally, Kevin Smith, partner at KPMG, LLP, and Steven Mertens, senior vice president of operations for Holaira, have been re-elected to serve as treasurer and secretary, respectively.

Elections include the appointments of board members Jeff Mirviss, senior vice president and president of peripheral interventions for Boston Scientific Corp. and Joseph Galatowitsch, president and managing partner of Dymedex Consulting LLC, to the executive committee. Tim Frischmon, principal of Furst Group, was re-elected to the executive committee.

Kieval, who has served on the LifeScience Alley board since 2011 and was vice chair for the past year, succeeds outgoing board chairman Stephen Snyder, president and chief operating officer of St. Renatus LLC. First elected in 2005, Snyder served for nine years as a LifeScience Alley board member and for the last two years as board chairman. Most recently, he helped guide LifeScience Alley through a planned leadership change that named Shaye Mandle as the organization’s president and CEO.

“We are very excited to have well-respected community and thought leaders like Rob and Rachel leading the board of directors,” Mandle said. “Their insights, in concert with those of the other board members, will be critical to LifeScience Alley’s efforts to elevate the global impact of Minnesota’s Medical Alley. We also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Steve Snyder for the countless years of dedication and vision he brought to our organization. We thank him and look forward to continuing our relationship.”

Leaving the LifeScience Alley board is Todd Fruchterman, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president of research and development and regulatory affairs, chief technology officer and chief medical officer of 3M Health Care. Joining the group is Ed Hedblom, director of clinical research for 3M Health Care Business Group.

“I’m honored to continue my service on the LifeScience Alley board in this new capacity,” said Kieval, the new board chairman. “With our diverse membership and depth of experience in healthcare and health technology, LifeScience Alley is positioned to play a proactive and influential role in the evolution of healthcare going forward. Furthermore, with the strength of Shaye, the LifeScience Alley team and our board of directors, we are confident that our efforts will foster an environment for innovation, growth and success for our entire community.”

Founded in 1984, LifeScience Alley is the largest state-based trade association serving the life sciences in the United States. It represents more than 600 member companies, organizations and institutions of various sizes that devote their efforts to the research, development and commercialization of the life sciences as well as those in the healthcare delivery system.