Dr Gail H Cassell will join the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), as vice president, TB drug development. In this newly created position, Dr Cassell will work within the IDRI management team to further the organization's development of its portfolio of drug candidates for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), including multi-drug resistant (MDR) or extremely drug resistant (XDR) strains of TB.

Dr Cassell is currently a Visiting Professor in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School. She recently retired as vice president, Scientific Affairs and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for Infectious Diseases, Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was also responsible for initiating and leading the not-for-profit Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative launched in 2007, and was largely responsible for launching Lilly's MDRTB Partnership in 2003 which now exceeds a $135 million philanthropic effort.

“We are thrilled that Gail has officially joined the IDRI team,” said Stewart Parker, IDRI CEO. “The creation of this new position reflects the positive progress made in the pursuit of novel therapeutic candidates against TB, including MDR TB and XDR TB, and Gail's extensive experience and passion for this effort can only continue to expedite this effort.”

“I have enjoyed collaborating with IDRI over the past several years in the context of the Lilly TB Drug Initiative, and now look forward to continuing to contribute to it, and to IDRI's success,” said Dr Cassell.

The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) is a non-profit organization committed to applying innovative science to the research and development of products to prevent, detect, and treat infectious diseases of poverty.