Jonathan S. Leff: A Biotech Leader's Impactful Career - Paper Sample

Mr. Jonathan S. Leff, an outstanding American Biotechnologist, is currently serving as the chairman of Deerfield Institute and partner of Deerfield Management Co. LP, which is Private Equity, is determined to advance healthcare through philanthropic works, investments, and information dissemination. He doubles up as the Emerging Companies Section Board at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and serves on the boards of other eight companies ("The 10 Most Well-Connected People in Biotech", 2020). His primary focus has been to venture into capital and structured investments in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Based on his past achievements, I nominate the 50-year-old Mr. Jonathan S. Leff for the Carleton Prize for Biotechnology.

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Having graduated from Harvard University with a BA in government in 1990, Mr. Jonathan S. Leff proceeded to his MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. His excellence in academia is reflected in every footprint he has left in the work trails of every institution he has served, as illustrated by "The 10 Most Well-Connected People in Biotech", 2020.

Mr. Jonathan S. Leff has been partnering with Warburg Pincus & Co., a global private equity firm with investment determinations in energy, financial services, healthcare, technology, telecommunication, and media, a general partner since 1996 to date. From 2000 to the present, he has served both as a member and Managing Director of Warburg Pincus LCC Healthcare, where he has been in charge of the firm's investment in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. He is part of the board of directors of InterMune and Archimedes Pharma companies, which mainly deal with Pharmaceuticals. When Warburg Pincus LCC acquired ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services in 2011, Mr. Jonathan S. Leff was on its directors' board until today, given his superior knowledge of Pharmaceutical practices. Since 2003, he has been on the Board of Directors of Rob-X Pharmaceutical ("The 10 Most Well-Connected People in Biotech", 2020).

Sophiris Bio appointed Mr. Jonathan S. Leff to the board of directors in November 2010, where he served as the director of governance and nomination committee. He has been a member of the compensation committee and Board of Directors of Talon Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company dealing in the development and commercialization of cancer therapies with the potential treatment of acute Lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphomas, since June 2010. He has served as the Chairperson of the Medical Innovation and Competitiveness (MedIC) coalition since 2010. Other than working on the Board of Directors for the National Venture Capital Association, an association founded in 1973 to empower the next generation of American companies meant to shape the American economy ("The 10 Most Well-Connected People in Biotech,", 2020).

Based on his vast knowledge of cancer-related diseases, he has served as an Executive Committee member for Friends of Cancer Research Initiative, championing collaborative cancer-based research to better the lives of cancer patients and create cancer awareness. He directs the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation, which deals in research and treatment of related cases. He is on the board of visitors and the executive committee of Columbia University Medical Center, directly involved in crucial decision-making for the University Hospital (Leff et al., 2015).

In the past, his contributions to biotechnology that have impacted the advancement of biotechnology have been experienced in the areas of service practice as follows; For ten years, he served on the ZymoGenetics Board of Directors – one of the oldest Pharmaceutical companies in America. He served the Transkaryotic Therapies Board of Directors for five years and the Neurogenic Board of Directors for seven years. His managerial skills, experiential counsel, and intellectual contributions to these outstanding companies have helped shape the revolutions in the Biotechnological discipline ("The 10 Most Well-Connected People in Biotech,", 2020).

Apart from leadership contributions, Mr. Jonathan S. Leff has made a substantial scholarly impact in the field of Biotechnology. In his 2015 research article, Improving Pharmaceutical Innovation by Building a More Comprehensive Database on Drug Development and Use, he puts across the importance of data consolidation to globally aid drug manufacture (Leff et al., 2015). This research has collaboratively identified the limitations in assessing and measuring innovation, proposing a framework for public metrics innovations. His research has helped researchers analyze more broadly, drivers of drug innovation, current trends in new medicine outputs, and results of policies that had already been put in place to shape medical innovations.

In 2006, he participated in the research comparison of two doses of etanercept (50 vs. 100 mg) in active rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double-blind study. This research assessed the safety and efficacy of etanercept 50 mg administered twice a week compared to 25 mg administered two times a week for monotherapy on patients suffering from tumor necrosis factor-alpha and active rheumatoid arthritis. The research found that etanercept as a monotherapy administered at 50 mg two times a week does not increase efficacy as compared to 25 mg administered two times a week. This affirms that the 25 mg dose is the standard dosage for TNF-alpha blocker-naive patients (Johnsen, 2006).

In 2017, he participated in a research work that affirmed the abundance of relic DNA in soil and how it obscures estimates of soil microbial diversity. There has been uncertainty on how DNA affects the molecular analysis of microbial diversity due to the assumption that most microbial DNA that is recovered from soil has predominance in cells. The research examined diverse soils through viability PCR and photo-reactive DNA-intercalating dye propidium monoazide. The study established that about 40% of fungal and Prokaryotic DNA in the soil are from dislodged cells. Extracellular DNA is not quantifiable in all soils but is only found in base-concentrated soil. The research established that relic DNA that remains in the soil after a cell's death hinders soil treatment effects, spatiotemporal patterns, and microbial taxa and environmental conditions relationships (Carini et al., 2006). This research has helped the agrarian revolution understand soil testing, and improved soil treatment, and production.

His contributions to reconstructing the microbial diversity and function of pre-agricultural tallgrass prairie soils have proven very relevant in America. He demonstrated that metagenomics could help rebuild soil biogeochemicals in ecosystems that are endangered, thus enhancing the restoration efforts of the essential processes of the ecosystem (Fierer et al., 2013).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the contributions of Mr. Jonathan S. Leff are edge-cutting across all the biotechnological disciplines. Biotechnology is the exploitation of various biological processes of genetic manipulation of microorganisms to realize hormones, antibiotics, and other desired results; the application of its knowledge is also diverse. I consider my nominee to have contributed to this industry's success through various means, such as offering quality leadership to various biotechnological firms dealing with drug research, manufacturing, and administration across our nation. Additionally, the nominee contributed by participation in research and scholarly works that have seen real advancements in pharmaceutical practices, agricultural productions, soil culture, and drug manufacturers.

Reference

Carini, P., Marsden, P. J., Leff, J. W., Morgan, E. E., Strickland, M. S., & Fierer, N. (2016). Relic DNA is abundant in soil and obscures estimates of soil microbial diversity. Nature microbiology, 2(3), 1-6.

Daniel, G. W., Cazé, A., Romine, M. H., Audibert, C., Leff, J. S., & McClellan, M. B. (2015). Improving pharmaceutical innovation by building a more comprehensive database on drug development and use. Health Affairs, 34(2), 319-327

Fierer, N., Ladau, J., Clemente, J. C., Leff, J. W., Owens, S. M., Pollard, K. S., ... & McCulley, R. L. (2013). Reconstructing the microbial diversity and function of pre-agricultural tallgrass prairie soils in the United States. Science, 342(6158), 621-624.

Johnsen, A. K., Schiff, M. H., Mease, P. J., Moreland, L. W., Maier, A. L., Coblyn, J. S., ... & Weinblatt, M. E. (2006). Comparison of 2 doses of etanercept (50 vs. 100 mg) in active rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double-blind study. The Journal of Rheumatology, 33(4), 659-664.

The 10 Most Well-Connected People in Biotech. GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. 2020). Retrieved 5 October 2020, from https://www.genengnews.com/a-lists/the-10-most-well-connected-people-in-biotech/.