Dana Foundation Appoints Two New Board Members

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Jul 18, 2023, 11:00 ET

New Members Bring Expertise in Media, Education, Neuroscience, and Technology

NEW YORK, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dana Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of two members to its board of directors: Paula A. Kerger and Husseini Manji, M.D., FRCPC.

"The Board is delighted to welcome two extremely distinguished and highly effective new directors to its ranks," said Steven E. Hyman, M.D., chairman of the Dana Foundation. "Paula Kerger and Husseini Manji each bring important experiences and background to the Foundation as it develops its timely new focus on neuroscience and society."

Paula A. Kerger is president and chief executive officer of PBS, the nation's largest non-commercial media organization representing more than 330 member stations throughout the country. She is the longest-serving president and CEO in PBS history. Over 17 years, Kerger has led the transformation of PBS from a broadcaster to a multiplatform digital media organization which delivers on public television's essential mission of education, inspiration, and service to the American public.

Kerger is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Women's Forum. She is a board member of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History where she formerly served as chair. She is a director of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and was a director of the Meredith Corporation. She has received honorary doctorates from Washington University in St. Louis, Grand Valley State University, Allegheny College, Northeastern University, and the University of Miami. She received the Chancellor's Medallion from University of North Carolina Asheville.

Husseini K. Manji, M.D., FRCPC, is co-chair of the UK Government Mental Health Mission and a professor at Oxford University. He was previously the Global Therapeutic Head for Neuroscience, and Global Head, Science for Minds at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), where he helped to discover, develop, and launch several new medications for serious neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Before joining J&J, Manji was chief of the NIH Laboratory of Molecular Pathophysiology, and he served as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, the most successful program of its kind in the world.

Manji has been inducted into the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the World Dementia Council. He is co-chair of the Board of the Healthy Brains Global Initiative and recent chair of the NAM Neuroscience, Behavior, Brain Function group. He has held numerous leadership positions within the NIH, NAM, and the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium Executive Committee.

A recipient of numerous international awards, Manji also holds a number of patents and has published extensively on the molecular and cellular neurobiology of severe neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders and the development of novel therapeutics, with more than 350 publications in leading peer-reviewed journals.

"Our newly elected board members each bring unique perspectives from different fields and organizations, which will enrich the interdisciplinary focus of the Dana Foundation," said Caroline Montojo, Ph.D., president of the Dana Foundation. "I look forward to working closely with them to advance neuroscience that benefits society and reflects the aspirations of all people."

Kerger and Manji will join the following Dana Foundation board members: Steven E. Hyman, Edward Bleier, Wallace L. Cook, Charles A. Dana III, Hildegarde E. Mahoney, and Peter A. Nadosy.

The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing neuroscience and society by supporting cross-disciplinary intersections such as neuroscience and ethics, law, policy, humanities, and arts.

SOURCE Dana Foundation