Wendy Johnson, Linda Holland and Jennifer Jarrett Join The Clearity Foundation’s Board of Directors
La Jolla, Calif., December 19, 2011 – The board of directors of The Clearity Foundation has named Wendy Johnson, Linda Holland and Jennifer Jarrett as new directors of the non-profit organization dedicated to providing individualized treatment information to women with ovarian cancer. The trio brings a range of healthcare experience in business development, strategic communications and investment banking to the organization. In 2011, the board of directors added six new members to provide additional support for Clearity’s fundraising and strategic initiatives.
“This year we experienced a significant increase in requests to help women with recurrent ovarian cancer make better treatment decisions. As Clearity plans to support even more women next year, we enthusiastically welcome Wendy, Linda and Jennifer to the team. I personally look forward to working with each of them on new fundraising and partnership initiatives to increase our ability to help more patients,” said Hillary Theakston, executive director of The Clearity Foundation. “Clearity is fortunate to have an active and resourceful board dedicated to helping us advance our mission. I know Wendy, Linda and Jennifer will hit the ground running.”
Wendy Johnson is a healthcare veteran, bringing a wealth of oncology and corporate partnering experience to the board. Said Ms. Johnson, “Clearity is taking an entrepreneurial approach to their philanthropic mission. In joining the board, I feel I have a unique opportunity to contribute strategically, particularly in developing relationships with corporate partners. I’m gratified by the opportunity to apply my professional experience to a relevant and worthy non-profit organization.”
Linda Holland has applied her expertise gained from over 25 years in various positions in pharmaceutical, medical device/diagnostic, emerging life sciences companies and marketing communication firms to establishing strategic fundraising initiatives for healthcare-related non-profit organizations. “I admire Clearity’s focus on helping patients evaluate treatment options using molecular profiling of a tumor when there is a cancer recurrence. It is my hope that my contribution to Clearity’s fundraising efforts will allow us to help even more patients. I am looking forward to applying my experience in the San Diego community, with its innovative life science research, leading medical centers and supportive philanthropic community, as well as on regional and national levels,” added Ms. Holland.
Jennifer Jarrett’s professional career has centered on managing sizable financing transactions for healthcare companies and her personal experience has motivated her to make a difference for patients. “Like many healthcare professionals, my family has been affected by cancer and I have been struck by the disparity between promising research in personalized medicine and the current realities of patient care. I support Clearity’s ability to bridge that gap and bring individualized treatment to patients today,” stated Ms. Jarrett.
Wendy Johnson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Aires Pharmaceuticals and a Venture Partner at ProQuest Investments. Prior to joining ProQuest, she served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, at Salmedix Inc., where she led the effort to license their lead cancer therapeutic; the company was successfully sold to Cephalon in June 2005. Ms. Johnson has additional experience with device, diagnostic and drug discovery and development and regulatory affairs. She held senior business and corporate development positions at Women First, Prizm Pharmaceuticals, Cytel Corp., Symbiotics Corp., and Murex Corp. (Cambridge U.K.). Additionally, Ms. Johnson served as Assistant Director with the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the Food and Drug Administration. She holds an MBA from Loyola University, an MS in Clinical Microbiology from the Hahnemann Medical School and a BS in Microbiology from the University of Maryland.
Linda Holland is currently the Volunteer Chair for the Make the Hope Happen fundraising initiative for the Patient & Family Support Service (PFSS) at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. Ms. Holland created and is implementing short- and long-term, tiered, sustainable fundraising initiatives for PFSS, which significantly relies on private philanthropy to maintain and expand its services for patients and their loved ones at the Cancer Center. She has a BA in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa and a MA in Healthcare Law and Policy from UC San Diego/California Western School of Law.
Jennifer Jarrett is Managing Director in Citigroup’s Healthcare group and directs Citigroup’s West Coast healthcare effort. Ms. Jarrett joined Citigroup in 2010. Prior to Citigroup, Jennifer was the Head of U.S. Biotech at Credit Suisse where she spent 12 years. She has led numerous banking transactions in the healthcare sector, including initial public offerings, follow-ons, private placements, licensing deals and mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Jarrett received her BA from Dartmouth College and MBA from Stanford University.
Ovarian cancer tumors are very different from patient to patient, which means they are likely to respond differently to FDA-approved and investigational drugs. By identifying the alterations in each tumor’s information pathways, molecular profiling enables the individualization of a patient’s treatment by matching those tumor alterations with one or more drugs. The Clearity Foundation has developed a process for generating this personalized diagnostic information using commercially-available molecular profiling technologies and then analyzing the results using its Diane Barton Database. Armed with this analysis, patients are able to work with their medical teams to make better-informed treatment decisions.
