FIND Board appoints Catharina Boehme as CEO

Geneva, Switzerland – 21 June 2013 – The Board of Directors of FIND announced today that Dr. Catharina Boehme, who has been Acting CEO of the organization for the past six months, is assuming the position of Chief Executive Officer of FIND. “Catharina was unanimously chosen by the Board in recognition of her strong qualifications, her unwavering dedication to the organization and her accomplishments as Acting CEO to date,” said Mark Kessel, Chairman. “I would like to warmly welcome Catharina to her new role at FIND.”Dr. Boehme came to FIND when the fledgling partnership was just three years old, bringing to it her solid grounding in TB research and fieldwork. She assumed early responsibility for the TB program and subsequently rose to the position of Chief Medical Officer for the entire organization. In this capacity, she coordinated concept development and submission of multiple grants and maintained key donor relationships.

“In nature, growth is an almost automatic process given the right enabling conditions. Managing the growth of an organization in times of economic uncertainty is anything but automatic,” said Catharina, “so I fully realize the challenge of the responsibility the Board has trusted me with. FIND’s contribution to providing appropriate diagnostics for some of the world’s leading diseases remains as important as ever. I will make every effort to ensure this contribution continues to make a valuable impact on global health.”

In her previous role as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Boehme has successfully overseen clinical trials over the full spectrum of FIND’s operations. She also took over the management of the downstream implementation teams and restructured the clinical department on the basis of a new business model – enhancing the presence of FIND in the regions by re-allocating staff and optimizing the overall team.

Over the years, Dr Boehme has shown great leadership in building solid relations with donors, in negotiating with industry partners, and in securing key grants, thus ensuring the continued operations of the FIND pipeline of promising diagnostics.