Mark Esser, PhD, was appointed the inaugural chief scientific officer and head of the upcoming Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology at Charlottesville-based University of Virginia.
In his role, Dr. Esser will be responsible for “capitalizing on the cutting-edge biomedical research under way at UVA and UVA Health to tackle some of the greatest challenges in medicine and accelerate the development of new treatments and cures,” according to an April 15 university news release.
The 350,000-square-foot, four-story Manning Institute is under construction in Charlottesville.
As head of the institute, Dr. Esser will focus on fostering an “ecosystem of innovation” to attract biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to Central Virginia and across the state, according to the release.
He currently serves as vice president for vaccines and immune therapies at research-based biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
