Lynch Joins Bristol-Myers Squibb as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer

Thomas J. Lynch Jr, MD

Thomas J. Lynch Jr, MD

Thomas J. Lynch Jr, MD, has been appointed the executive vice president and chief scientific officer for Bristol-Myers Squibb, effective March 16, 2017. He will succeed Francis Cuss, MB BChir, who will be retiring from the company, although Cuss will serve as an advisor for 3 months to facilitate a smooth transition. Lynch will simultaneously step down from the Board of Directors at Bristol-Myers Squibb, effective March 15, 2017.

“We are pleased to welcome Tom to the leadership team at Bristol-Myers Squibb,” said Giovanni Caforio, MD, chief executive officer and chairman designate of Bristol-Myers Squibb, in a press release. “Tom is an internationally recognized oncologist known for his leadership in the treatment of lung cancer and has made significant contributions to the field of targeted therapies throughout his career. Tom brings deep industry knowledge and a sophisticated understanding of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Research & Development program from his experience as a member of our board.”

Lynch has had a long and distinguished career in medicine, totaling more than 3 decades of medical, management, and leadership experience. He served as chairman and CEO of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, and as a board member for Massachusetts General Hospital from 2015 to 2017.

Lynch also served as the director of Yale Cancer Center, and was the Richard and Jonathan Sackler Professor of Internal Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine from 2009 to 2015. While at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2004, Lynch was part of the team credited with the discovery that certain genetic mutations in lung cancer patients caused therapies to work in certain patients. Lynch is also a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

Notably, Lynch was recognized as a Giant of Cancer Care in 2013, for his innovative use of molecular testing for mutations in theEGFRgene to select patients who could benefit from targeted lung cancer therapies. He is internationally respected for his leadership in the development of novel therapies for the treatment of lung cancer, and is well-known as a pioneer in the field of personalized medicine.

“An award such as this depends upon team science. It depends upon people who are in the laboratory, looking at lung cancer from the very earliest of findings within a cell; it involves doctors taking care of patients in their office, bringing new therapies to the clinic. It involves the collaboration that all of us have,” Lynch said when accepting his Giants of Cancer Care award in 2013.