Former White House Top Health Security Official to Lead Flagship's Preemptive Health and Medicine Initiative
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Flagship Pioneering, the bioplatform innovation company, today announced that globally distinguished healthcare expert, entrepreneur, and public policy leader Raj Panjabi, M.D., MPH, will join Flagship as Senior Partner. Dr. Panjabi will lead Flagship's Preemptive Health and Medicine Initiative (PH&M), which is pioneering a new field to protect, maintain, or improve people's health before they get sick. In its fifth year, the initiative is grounded in the premise that health should be accessible for all and pursues interventions that protect health from external threats (health security) and prevent or delay the onset of diseases (preemptive medicine).
Raj Panjabi, M.D., MPH
Dr. Panjabi previously served as White House Senior Director and as President Biden's top pandemic and health official at the National Security Council. During his tenure at the White House, he helped lead several health security initiatives including the historic COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the White House's 2022 National Biodefense Strategy and American Pandemic Preparedness Plan, the 2022 U.S. Global Health Security Act, and the President's 2022 Executive Order to Advance Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation.
In this newly created role, Dr. Panjabi will collaborate with Professor the Lord Ara Darzi of Denham, Flagship Special Advisor and Chairman of the Preemptive Health and Medicine Initiative, in providing strategic leadership and vision for the development and growth of projects and directions within PH&M. Current companies and projects within this initiative include Harbinger Health, Apriori Bio and several early-stage projects. Dr. Panjabi will work closely with Flagship's origination teams to translate cutting-edge science and technological advancements into actionable healthcare solutions. He will also engage with leading experts, stakeholders, and policymakers to drive policy and advocacy initiatives and strategic partnerships to promote the integration of preemptive healthcare approaches.
"Raj's impressive career has been characterized by his dedication to innovative and proactive healthcare strategies that yield robust results, including his vital role in the White House's National Biodefense Strategy and the President's Malaria Initiative," said Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. "We look forward to the impact Raj will have accelerating the Preemptive Health and Medicine Initiative for Flagship, working alongside Ara who has led the initiative as its chairman since its infancy."
"Flagship's demonstrated commitment to innovation and track record of partnership showcases the role the private sector can play in a global health emergency response," said Dr. Panjabi. "The Preemptive Health & Medicine Initiative is well positioned to help transform the future of healthcare through proactive strategies, and I look forward to joining the team on its visionary journey to improve healthcare outcomes through preemptive medicine."
Dr. Panjabi's appointment follows a recent expansion of Flagship Pioneering's leadership team, with appointments and promotions of senior leaders.
About Raj Panjabi, M.D., MPH
The Honorable Raj Panjabi is former White House Senior Director and globally recognized as a distinguished authority in healthcare, public policy, entrepreneurship, and technology.
As White House Senior Director, Dr. Panjabi served as President Biden's top pandemic and health official at the National Security Council, where he played a pivotal role in the largest vaccination campaign in history against COVID-19 and responses to public health crises, including mpox, influenza and Ebola. He played a lead role executing the 2022 National Biodefense Strategy and American Pandemic Preparedness Plan, coordinating over $12 billion in annual investment across 16 federal agencies in biodefense, including in diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. Dr. Panjabi also helped oversee implementation of the President's 2022 Executive Order to Advance Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation and the 2022 U.S. Global Health Security Act, authorizing $5 billion and expanding health investments across 50 countries. He co-developed President Biden's COVID-19 and health security initiatives with the G7, G20, and regional bodies, and efforts to organize Presidential Summits, launch the Pandemic Fund at the World Bank, negotiate the WHO International Health Regulations and Pandemic Accord, and uphold the UN Biological Weapons Convention.
Previously, Dr. Panjabi led the President's Malaria Initiative, helping launch the world's first malaria vaccine, create a strategy to prevent 1 billion cases, and manage a $800 million enterprise protecting 700 million people across 30 countries. Dr. Panjabi is co-founder and former CEO of Last Mile Health, a global organization transforming community health systems.
Dr. Panjabi has been a senior advisor to several biotech companies and has served on the boards of private sector companies, non-profits, and other initiatives. He currently serves on the boards of WHO Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Last Mile Health, among others, and on the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense. He serves on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
One of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the World and TIME's 50 Most Influential People in Healthcare, and twice named to the FORTUNE World's 50 Greatest Leaders list, Dr. Panjabi has received the TED Prize, Clinton Global Citizen Award, and World Economic Forum's Social Entrepreneur of the Year award. He was knighted by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the Government of Liberia. He trained in biochemistry, epidemiology and biostatistics, and medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts General Hospital.
About Flagship Pioneering
Flagship Pioneering invents and builds bioplatform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $75 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $3.8 billion in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $27 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises 40 companies, including Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX), Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Omega Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OMGA), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), Generate Biomedicines, Inari, Indigo Agriculture, and Tessera Therapeutics.