Date: January 13, 2009
By , DCRI Communications

CTTI is pleased to announce the selection of James J. Ferguson III, M.D. and Briggs W. Morrison, M.D. as co-chairs of the CTTI Steering Committee.  Both will also serve as ex officio members of the CTTI Executive Committee. "We are fortunate to have Drs. Ferguson and Morrison, with their experience and enthusiasm, lead the Steering Committee in its efforts to increase the quality and efficiency of clinical trials," said CTTI Executive Director, Judith Kramer.

James J. Ferguson III, M.D. is currently Vice President for Global Medical Surgical and Critical Care at The Medicines Company, where he is responsible for leading medical science/affairs strategies and activities supporting Cleviprex and other acute care cardiovascular products.

Prior to joining the The Medicines Company, Dr. Ferguson worked at the Texas Heart Institute for more than 20 years, serving as the Associate Director of Cardiology Research and Co-director of the Cardiology Fellowship program at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and the Texas Heart Institute, and as a faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas Health Science Center.

Dr. Ferguson is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. He has numerous national and international invited lectures to his credit and has published extensively on a variety of topics.

He graduated with an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (where he also spent a year as a hypertension fellow) and his cardiology training at Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He received his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Harvard College.

Briggs Morrison, M.D. is Senior Vice President for Worldwide Clinical Development at Pfizer. Inc., where he is responsible for overseeing all therapeutic areas for all Phase 1 through 3 trials, as well as clinical operations, with the goal of streamlining and accelerating clinical trials on a global basis.

Prior to joining Pfizer in 2007, Dr. Morrison spent 12 years at Merck & Co, where he worked with leadership of Merck Research Laboratories to decrease drug development cycle times and re-organize the research division. His positions at Merck include Development Therapeutic Area Head for Oncology, Head of Clinical Data Management, Team Leader for etoricoxib (Arcoxia), and Medical Monitor working on the early development of three oncology compounds as well as Vioxx through its initial global approval in 1999.

Dr. Morrison graduated with an M.D. from the University of Connecticut. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and his fellowship in medical oncology at at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular oncology at Harvard Medical School, after which he worked at the Dana Farber as a research fellow and a member of the Breast Cancer Multi-Disciplinary Clinic prior to joining Merck. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Georgetown University.