Whitehead Director elected to Johnson & Johnson Board of Directors

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ. — Susan Lindquist, director of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been elected to the Board of Directors of Johnson & Johnson.

“We are delighted to bring Susan Lindquist’s extensive knowledge of biomedical research techniques to our board of directors,” said Johnson & Johnson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Weldon. “Her extensive expertise and knowledge of biology, proteins and genetics will be extremely valuable to the company as we continue to focus on new and innovative medical treatments.”

Lindquist earned her bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Illinois and her doctorate in biology from Harvard University. Before joining Whitehead and MIT in 2001, she was a professor in the department of molecular genetics and cell biology at the University of Chicago and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for 14 years. She has also held positions as an assistant professor in the department of biology and an associate professor in the department of molecular genetics and cell biology at the University of Chicago.

Leading research that blends traditional cell biology and genetics with modern, state-of-the-art technologies, Lindquist is widely known for her pioneering work on protein conformation and its effects on stress tolerance, neurodegenerative disease and heredity. Her research has provided vital support to the effort to understand biological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and mad cow disease.

Recent awards include the 2003 Dickson Prize in Medicine and the prestigious Novartis Drew Award in Biomedical research in 2000. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1997, the same year she became a Fellow in American Academy of Microbiology.

Adapted from a Johnson & Johnson press release.