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Erica Ollmann Saphire, a biologist known internationally for her efforts to fight such deadly viruses as COVID-19 and Ebola, has been named president and chief executive officer of the La Jolla Institute, one of the country’s foremost private biomedical research centers.
Saphire, 49, will succeed Mitchell Kronenberg, who has led LJI for nearly 20 years. He will remain as chief scientific officer.
She will continue to run her lab, which serves as a global clearinghouse in the search for antibodies that might be effective against COVID-19, which has killed 2.65 million people.
Her appointment means that LJI, which is small, has managed to fend off recruiters from other institutions. In the process, LJI will likely become the third local, high-ranking biomedical institute whose president is a woman. Her appointment takes effect on Sept. 1.