(RYE BROOK, NY, July 1, 2022) - The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) announced today National Board Officer appointments, as well as a new national board member. The National Board of Directors works alongside LLS leadership to drive forward the organization’s steadfast commitment to saving lives and improving the quality of life for blood cancer patients and their families.
Effective July 1, 2022, the new officer appointments include: Jeff Sachs, Board Chair; Kathleen Meriwether, Vice Chair; Freda Wang, Secretary/Treasurer; Ruben Mesa, M.D., At Large.
Also effective July 1, 2022, Jim Reddoch, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Investments, and Chief Scientific Officer at Royalty Pharma, joins as a new board member.
“Volunteers are integral to the success of LLS, and we are grateful to the distinguished volunteer leaders serving on LLS’s national board—all laser-focused on helping blood cancer patients and their families survive and thrive,” said Louis J. DeGennaro, Ph.D., LLS president and CEO. “With their diverse talents and skills and dedication to charting a bold course for the future, LLS can continue transforming the landscape of blood cancer care. We congratulate our new slate of officers, welcome our new board member, and look forward to the impact we will have together.”
“As a leukemia survivor and longtime LLS volunteer and donor, I’ve witnessed firsthand LLS’s impact on the lives of blood cancer patients and families, through unprecedented strides in research, patient services and advocacy,” said Jeff Sachs, LLS Board Chair. “I’m honored to chair the board of this organization, which has exemplary management and was recently recognized as an innovative, impactful leader among cancer organizations, with best-in-class transition of donor funds into effective patient-oriented, mission-driven programs.”
LLS Board & Leadership Announcements:
Board Chair, Jeff Sachs (Atlanta, GA): Jeff Sachs retired as the North American senior managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Hotels and Hospitality Strategic Advisory and Asset Management Group. Before joining JLL, Sachs was a founding partner of Strategic Advisory Group, which was acquired by JLL in early 2016. Prior to forming Strategic Advisory Group in 1998, he was the national director of the public assembly consulting practice and the southeast director of the hospitality practice for Ernst & Young. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting from the University of Iowa. Sachs has been a volunteer with LLS since 2005, one year after surviving a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia.
Vice Chair, Kathleen Meriwether (Philadelphia, PA): Kathleen Meriwether is retired from Ernst & Young, LLP, where she served as Americas Life Sciences Leader for the firm’s Forensic and Integrity practice. She specialized in assisting health sciences companies with internal and government investigations, global risks and compliance assessments and regulatory compliance analyses. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, she served as an Assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, specializing in health care fraud matters. She previously spent more than 16 years with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in a number of legal, regulatory affairs and compliance positions, including division counsel for the Oncology and Immunology franchise. Kathleen has a bachelor’s degree in economics from LaSalle University and earned her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Novartis Corporation and is a cancer survivor.
Secretary/Treasurer, Freda Wang (New York, NY): Freda Wang is a managing director in Goldman Sachs’ Public Sector & Infrastructure Group within the investment banking division. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, she was a managing director and head of structured banking within the Municipal Securities Group at UBS. Wang has spent over two decades providing investment banking services to some of the country’s largest public sector organizations, including state and local governments, public utility systems, transportation and mass transit agencies and other public and quasi-public organizations. Over the course of her career, she has helped numerous governmental, corporate and nonprofit clients solve complex financing challenges related to public projects. Freda was named the 2018 Woman of the Year candidate for LLS’s Connecticut Westchester Hudson Valley Chapter. She currently serves as treasurer and board member of FUSE Corps, and as vice chair of the board and chair of the finance committee of New York City Health & Hospitals. Freda earned a bachelor’s degree in urban studies with a concentration in economics from Columbia College of Columbia University in New York City.
At Large, Ruben Mesa, M.D., FACP (San Antonio, TX): Dr. Mesa is executive director of the NCI designated Mays Cancer Center, home to the UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, where he holds the Mays Family Foundation Distinguished University presidential chair. Dr. Mesa has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator in more than 100 clinical trials for patients with myeloid disorders and played a lead role in various FDA approvals. He has been a funded investigator of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on several projects in myeloproliferative neoplasms, and is appointed to the NCI Clinical Trial Advisory Committee. Dr. Mesa plays a range of leadership roles with the American Society of Hematology, and elected to the Board of the American Association of Cancer Institutes. Dr. Mesa completed his undergraduate training in nuclear engineering and physiology at University of Illinois and attended Mayo Medical School in Rochester, MN, where he completed his internal medicine residency and hematology & medical oncology fellowship. He was then on the faculty of the Mayo Clinic in hematology and later served as deputy director of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center from 2012-2017.
Board Member, Jim Reddoch, Ph.D. (New York, NY): Jim Reddoch, Ph.D. is Executive Vice President, Investments, and Chief Scientific Officer at Royalty Pharma, where he has identified and analyzed new biopharma investment opportunities and partnerships for over 14 years. Prior to joining Royalty Pharma in 2008, Dr. Reddoch was Head of Healthcare Research at FBR Capital Markets. Previously, Dr. Reddoch was a biotechnology analyst at Bank of America and CIBC World Markets. He is on Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s external review board for its Technology Development Fund. Dr. Reddoch has a bachelor’s degree from Furman University, a PhD in biochemistry and molecular genetics from the University of Alabama medical school and was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.
About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is a global leader in the fight against cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care.
Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Rye Brook, NY, LLS has regional offices throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org. Patients should contact the LLS Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., ET.
For additional information visit lls.org/lls-newsnetwork. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Kristin Hoose
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
(914) 821-8973
Kristin.Hoose@lls.org