News & Events

David Nelson and Michael Pollock Join Clearity Foundation’s Board of Directors

La Jolla, Calif., August 16, 2011 – The board of directors of The Clearity Foundation has named Michael Pollock and David Nelson, Ph.D. as new members of the board of the non-profit organization dedicated to providing personalized treatment information to women with ovarian cancer. The two new directors add to the wealth of healthcare industry expertise on the Clearity board to help advance the organization’s mission and fundraising initiatives.

“Clearity’s personalized approach to treatment is helping women with recurrent ovarian cancer make better treatment decisions. As we expand our patient reach, we have opportunities to develop partnerships that are focused on improving clinical and economic outcomes. I welcome the passion, creativity and expertise that David and Michael will bring to the board. I look forward to working with them as we strive to make personalized treatment available to more women with ovarian cancer,” said Hillary Theakston, executive director of The Clearity Foundation.

Ovarian cancer tumors are very different from patient to patient, which means they are likely to respond differently to FDA-approved and investigational drugs. By identifying the alterations in each tumor’s information pathways, molecular profiling enables the individualization of a patient’s treatment by matching those tumor alterations with one or more drugs. The Clearity Foundation has developed a process for generating this personalized diagnostic information using commercially-available molecular profiling technologies and then analyzing the results using its Diane Barton Database. Armed with this analysis, patients are able to work with their medical teams to make better-informed treatment decisions.

“I’ve admired Clearity’s actionable philanthropic approach and their unique focus on helping patients today. They are addressing an unmet need in cancer treatment and proving that advances in cancer research and testing can make very powerful and immediate impacts on the lives of women with ovarian cancer. I look forward to helping the organization grow in order to maximize its potential,” said Dr. Nelson.

Mr. Pollock recognizes the opportunity to improve clinical and economic outcomes in ovarian cancer treatment, “The most expensive drug is the one that doesn’t work. The trial and error approach to ovarian cancer treatment is devastating for patients and needlessly expensive for the healthcare system. I’ve joined Clearity to help speed adoption of molecular profiling to change the outcome and outlook for ovarian cancer patients.”

Dr. Nelson is Founder, President and CEO, Epic Sciences, Inc. He has over a decade of business experience in the life sciences industry, having founded multiple companies and served in executive roles in another three. He also has a robust scientific background, with extensive lab experience at the University of Minnesota, the National Institutes of Health, and Aurora Biosciences Corporation. With a doctorate in genetics and expertise in oncology and other diseases, Dr. Nelson is a member of the Molecular Diagnostics Technical Working Group at the Center for Medical Technology Policy, an organization that designs and implements prospective, real world studies to inform healthcare decisions.

Mr. Pollock joins the Clearity board of directors with over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry worldwide. He currently serves as the President of Reynolds Pollock & Associates, a health outcomes research and market access strategy consulting company. Immediately prior to founding Reynolds Pollock & Associates, Mr. Pollock was vice president of Global Health Economics at Biogen Idec, with worldwide responsibility for health economics strategy and research, across the entire portfolio of marketed and pipeline products. He began his career in Ireland and first became responsible for health economics 20 years ago at Glaxo Canada, where he was instrumental in founding the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Canada’s Healthcare Economics Committee.