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Alexandria, Virginia, The Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Investigators (APPI) is pleased to announce that Peter H. Rheinstein, MD, JD, MS, FAAFP, FCLM has been elected President-Elect and Jonathan Seltzer, MD, MBA, MA, FACC has been elected Secretary-Treasurer of APPI for 2009. Charles M. Alexander, MD, FACP, FACE assumes the APPI presidency after serving as President-Elect last year. Also elected to the APPI Board of Trustees for first terms were Christopher P. Allen, MD, FRCA, FFPM, Michael J. Koren, MD, FACC, and Jay Udani, MD, CPI. These newly elected members join current members of the board: Greg Koski, PhD, CPI; Nadina Jose, MD, CPI; and Michael Markowitz, MD, MBA, MSPH.

“Bringing new innovative medicines and devices to people who need them will always remain a key focus of our members” said Charles M. Alexander, MD, FACP, FACE, APPI President. “My focus in 2009 will be to increase awareness of the Certified Physician Investigator (CPI TM) process and to have pharmaceutical medicine recognized as a sub-specialty.”

Charles M. Alexander, MD, FACP, FACE, Dr. Alexander is Senior Director, Global Medical Affairs supporting the Diabetes & Obesity and Atherosclerosis/ Cardiovascular Areas with a focus on diabetes. His most recent previous assignment was in U.S Outcomes Research in 2008. He joined Merck in 1992 as an Associate Director in U.S. Medical Services and moved to U.S. Outcomes Research and Management as a Director in 1996. Promoted to Senior Director in 2005, he moved to Global Outcomes Research in 2007, where he was responsible for all of the diabetes products.

Peter H. Rheinstein, MD, JD, MS, FAAFP, FCLM, consults and speaks on drug issues. Previously, he was senior vice president for medical and clinical matters at a Johns Hopkins spinoff firm developing cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, publisher of the journal Discovery Medicine, and director of several offices for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Rheinstein also has been a practicing physician, medical school faculty member, medical director for a national chain of extended care facilities, and president of the Drug Information Association (DIA). He has served APPI as its vice president for American Medical Association (AMA) Relations and delegate to the AMA House of Delegates, vice chair of the Policy Committee (and of ACRP’s Government Affairs Committee), and president of the Baltimore-Washington Chapter. He received the APPI President’s Outstanding Service Award in 2003. As President-Elect, he will ascend to the presidency of APPI in 2010.

Jonathan Seltzer, MD, MBA, MA, FACC, is president of Applied Clinical Intelligence LLC in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., and director of clinical research at Main Line Health Heart Center in suburban Philadelphia. He has worked on numerous data monitoring committees in multiple therapeutic areas, served as an institutional review board member, and co-chaired federally-sponsored meetings focused on human subject protection. For APPI, he has served on the Executive Committee and as treasurer and chair of the academy’s annual meeting. A Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, he also holds an appointment as a clinical assistant professor at Jefferson Medical College.

Chris Allen, MD, FRCA, FFPM, leads Global Medical Information at Merck. He previously headed International Phase IV Clinical Research and Investigator initiated studies. Prior to this he was responsible for International Medical Affairs and Clinical Research activities for cholesterol lowering with ezetimibe and ezetimibe-simyastatin. Allen trained at Kings College London and qualified as an anesthesiologist. Chris is a past President of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Physicians.

Michael Koren, MD, FACC, is CEO and Director of the Jacksonville Center for Clinical Research (JCCR), a multi-specialty research organization with five locations that has conducted more than 1000 trials involving over 100 investigators. JCCR has spawned several initiatives through its Encore Research Group subsidiary. These initiatives include Ask 100 Doctors, a national online consulting and consensus building tool for physicians, e-Trialdoc, a software system to help research sites conduct studies, and various training initiatives. Dr. Koren is an honors graduate of both Brandeis University (BA) and Harvard Medical School (MD). Dr. Koren received his postdoctoral training at Cornell Medical Center in internal medicine and cardiology.

Dr. Koren is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology. He is the Director of Non-Invasive Cardiology at Memorial Hospital Jacksonville and maintains a private cardiology practice.

Jay Udani, MD, CPI, is the founder, CEO and Medical Director of Medicus Research. He is a board-certified Internist who served as Chief Resident at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center before completing two fellowships in Health-Services Research and Integrative Medicine at Cedars-Sinai/UCLA. He is currently the Medical Director of the Northridge Hospital Integrative Medicine Program and on the clinical faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine. He was one of the first physicians to become a Certified Principal Investigator (CPI) through the APPI/ACRP and as a Key Opinion Leader in the field of Integrative Medicine

APPI is a nonprofit organization with nearly 1,500 members and eight U.S. chapters. Its members are pharmaceutical physicians and other physicians who, in addition to their other professional work, devote a substantial portion of their time to performing studies of drugs, biologics, devices, vaccines, or diagnostics; activities related to research, development, or regulation of these products; and/or the practice of pharmaceutical medicine.
 

The Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Investigators (APPI) serves as the voice of pharmaceutical physicians and physician investigators and is an affiliate of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP). APPI is a recognized medical sub-specialty society with a seat in the American Medical Association House of Delegates. APPI is the sponsor of the Certified Physician Investigator (CPI TM) process which recognizes physicians who have sufficient clinical trial experience and have passed a rigorous examination.

For more information:
http://www.appinet.org