Harvard Medical School has appointed William W. Chin, senior vice president for discovery research and clinical investigation at Eli Lilly and Company, as its new executive dean for research. The medical school sees the move as strengthening ties between academe and industry, but critics say it raises ethical concerns and will exacerbate the problem of financial conflicts of interest in university medical research. Dr. Chin is a Harvard-trained endocrinologist who previously served on the medical school’s faculty.
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One Response to Harvard Medical School Hires Eli Lilly Executive as Research Dean
11211250 - February 11, 2010 at 6:01 am
While I am generally opposed to corporate takeovers of universities, this appointment makes sense. University medical research has had to adapt to the changing dynamics of university-industry collaborations, and adding this new perspective to the VPR’s office can certainly help Harvard in the clinical and translational research arena. But I hope his stint on the faculty taught him a few realities about university life. Handing out marching orders to faculty just won’t cut it. Budget? You thought the corporate world was shark invested! Intellectual property? Now that he’s on the other side of the fence, it will be interesting to see whether he will hold a hard line in negotiations with companies or make industry collaborations more flexible. Best of luck!