Lodewijk de Vink Elected to Board of Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lodewijk J.R. de Vink, an internationally-known leader in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation at its January 26 meeting. He will serve a term of three years.

A founding partner of Blackstone Health Care Partners since April 2003, de Vink's earlier executive positions included Chairman, International Health Care Partners; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Warner-Lambert Company; and President of Schering International.

In addition to the Foundation board, de Vink is a member of the Board of Directors of Alcon, Inc.; Flamel Technologies S.A.; and Roche Holdings A.G. He is also on Sotheby's International Advisory Board, and the European Advisory Council of Rothschild & Cie.

A Netherlands native, de Vink graduated from Nijenrode, the Netherlands School of Business. He later earned a B.B.A. from Washington University in Topeka, Kansas, and an M.B.A. from American University in Washington, D.C.

"We welcome Lodewijk to the Board and deeply value his experience and expertise," says Neal F. Kassell, M.D., the Foundation's Chairman. "His extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and his stature in the international healthcare market will be crucial in our efforts to establish focused ultrasound as a platform for drug delivery."

Other members of the Foundation's Board of Directors are: Dorothy Batten; S. Morry Blumenfeld, Ph.D., Founding Partner of Meditech Advisors Management; Eugene V. Fife, Chairman of Eclipsys Corporation; best-selling author John Grisham; David Heller, Chairman of Advisory Research Inc.; Dan Jordan, former President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation; Neal F. Kassell, M.D., Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia; Steve Rusckowski, Executive Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of Philips Healthcare; and, Kobi Vortman, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of InSightec.

About the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation:

Founded in 2006 and based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation is dedicated to accelerating research and development of patient treatments using one of today's most revolutionary and promising medical technologies: Magnetic Resonance-Guided Focused Ultrasound (FUS). The Foundation's work is motivated by the belief that FUS treatments could become the ultimate in minimally invasive surgery, serve as a viable alternative to radiation therapy and offer a new platform for precisely delivering drugs in high concentrations to the point where they are needed, avoiding systemic toxicity - applications that have the potential to alleviate suffering, save lives and quicken recovery times for millions of patients worldwide.

By promoting communication, collaboration and coordination, the Foundation has become a vital nexus for researchers, clinicians, manufacturers, philanthropists and other stakeholders in the FUS arena. The Foundation is funding translational and clinical research, providing fellowships for training physicians and scientists, hosting symposia and workshops, maintaining online informational resources and establishing FUS Centers of Excellence.

The Foundation's work is generously supported by industry, philanthropic organizations and individual donations. More information is available online at http://fusfoundation.org/

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SOURCE Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation