PHRI :: Board Bios

Board Bios
	Donald Armstrong, M.D. Edward Bessey Gilla Kaplan, Ph.D. L. Robert Lieb Lester Z. Lieberman Leonard Mindich, Ph.D. Kendyl Monroe, emeritus David S. Perlin, Ph.D. David Pulver Evangeline Tross Donald Armstrong, M.D. Donald Armstrong recently stepped down from his full-time position as the Chief of the Infectious Disease Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to become a consultant. He was also a professor of Medicine at Cornell University Medical College, and he directed the fellowship program in clinical and laboratory infectious diseases at Memorial for over 30 years. Dr. Armstrong is a past president of the Infectious Disease Society of America and of the New York Infectious Disease Society. His major research focus was immunocompromised host and fungal infections. With more than 50 fellows in training from the United States and abroad, he has published more than 300 papers and reviews. Dr. Armstrong has served on a number of boards and committees of scientific, medical and community organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the New York State and City Departments of Health, the Chinatown Health Clinic and the Community Research Initiative for AIDS, all in New York City. He serves as the chairman of the PHRI Medical Advisory Committee. Mr. Armstrong has an A.B. from Lehigh University and an M.D. from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a past president of the Infectious Disease Society of America, and of the New York Infectious Disease Society. Dr. Armstrong joined the PHRI Board in 1993, and serves as Chair of the PHRI Medical Advisory Committee. Edward Bessey Edward Bessey began his 32-year career at Pfizer Inc. as Marketing Trainee. He retired in 1996 after rising to Vice Chairman of the corporation, President of the U.S. Pharmaceuticals division, and member of the Board of Directors. Before coming to Pfizer, he served as an Officer in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Bessey was a member of the National Advisory Council on Health Care Policy and the Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America's National Industrial Advisory Council. He was a director of the National Association of Manufacturers; the Green Point Savings Bank; the United Way of Tri-State; and Project Hope. He is currently a director of the Arizona Children's Association. Mr. Bessey received his B.A. from Dartmouth University and an M.B.A. from Amos Tuck School. Mr. Bessey was a member of the PHRI Board in the mid-1990's, and re-joined the Board in 2002. He is a member of the PHRI Strategic Planning Committee. Gilla Kaplan, Ph.D. Gilla Kaplan is a faculty member of the Public Health Research Institute. Dr. Kaplan relocated to PHRI in 2002, after 19 years at The Rockefeller University. She is a world-renowned authority on the immune responses exhibited by the host organism following mycobacterial and other microbial infections. Dr. Kaplan received her B.S. degree from the Hebrew University in Israel and her M.S. and Ph.D. from The University of Tromso, Norway. Information about Dr. Kaplan's research program is found in the Research Section of the PHRI web site (www.phri.org). Dr. Kaplan joined PHRI's Board in 2003, and is a member of the PHRI Strategic Planning Committee. L. Robert Lieb L. Robert Lieb, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Development Corporation, is a General Partner or Manager in all of the company's affiliated projects. Mr. Lieb founded Mountain Development Corporation in 1979, having formerly practiced law in the states of New York and New Jersey. For the past 25 years his primary activities have been the development, construction, rehabilitation and management of office, retail and industrial real estate projects, primarily in the New York Metropolitan area and throughout the Northeast. Mr. Lieb was the founder and Chairman of the Board of NorCrown Bank, a full service commercial bank located in Roseland, New Jersey. He is Past President of the Passaic County 200 Club; Co-chairman of the Board of the Bryant Park Management Corporation; Member of the Board of Directors of the Public Health Research Institute; former President of The Children's Institute, Livingston, New Jersey and a member of its foundation; Trustee of the Livingston Education Foundation; former Director of The New Jersey Council of the Multi-Housing Institute, the YMCA of the Oranges, Maplewood, West Essex and Sussex County; and a trustee of Fund for Educational Advancement of the Archdiocese of Newark. He received his B.A. from the University of Buffalo and an L.L.B. from New York University Law School. He then served as a First Lieutenant, USAFR, from 1966 to 1972. Mr. Lieb joined the PHRI Board in 2001. He serves as PHRI's Vice-Chair, Chair of the Nominating Committee, and as a member of the Executive Committee. Lester Z. Lieberman Lester Z. Lieberman was born and raised in Newark, NJ. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology), where he also did graduate coursework in management engineering. He is a member of the honorary engineering society Tau Beta Pi. He began his career in engineering at Walter Kidde Co.. Mr. Lieberman founded the Crest Engineering Co., served as Chair and CEO of Atmos Engineering Inc. for 18 years, and ultimately served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Clarkson Industries and a director of the BTR, Inc., one of the largest British industrial conglomerates. He is a member of the Boards of Cives Corporation, the Lazard Funds Inc., the Northside Power Transmission Co., and a partner in Dowel Associates. He is currently Chair of the Board of the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, a trustee of Clarkson University, where he received an honorary degree in 1991, and a member of the Advisory Board of the New Jersey Medical School. He has served as chair of the Boards of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Irvington Hospital, and as a Board member of United Jersey Bank, N.A. Mr. Lieberman joined the PHRI Board of Directors in 2003. Leonard Mindich, Ph.D. Leonard Mindich is a faculty member of the Public Health Research Institute who runs a laboratory focused on the study or viruses and viral assembly. He has spent his entire scientific career at PHRI except for a one-year stint as a visiting investigator at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Dr. Mindich received his B.S. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from The Rockefeller University. Information about Dr. Mindich's research program is found in the Research Section of the PHRI web site (www.phri.org). Dr. Mindich joined the PHRI Board in 1980 and serves as PHRI's Secretary. Kendyl Monroe, emeritus Mr. Monroe retired as a partner of Sullivan & Cromwell in 1994 after practicing Wall Street law and living in New York City for 34 years. He now lives on and manages an isolated ranch in the northeast corner of New Mexico, 37 miles distant from the town of Clayton NM, where he was born and raised. Mr. Monroe graduated from Stanford University, A.B. 1958, and Stanford Law School, LL.B. (J.D.) 1960. He was a member of the Board of PHRI from 1981 to 1997, Chairman of the Board from 1992 to1997, and Member Emeritus of the Board since 1997. He is an active participant in numerous other entrepreneurial, public service, and charitable activities in both New Mexico and New York. David S. Perlin, Ph.D. Dr. Perlin has been the Director since 2006 and he was appointed the Scientific Director from 1992 until 2006. He has helped advance PHRI's research agenda including the Institute's emergence of as one of the foremost tuberculosis research organizations in the world and the development of the International Center for Public Health as a specialized center for infectious diseases research. Dr. Perlin's lab studies the molecular basis for clinical resistance to antifungal drugs. In addition, his lab has been developing rapid diagnostic probes for fungal pathogens and agents of bioterrorism. Since the anthrax outbreak in October 2001, Dr. Perlin has been widely outspoken about the public health response to the crisis and the need for research and improved infrastructure. He has been a regular commentator on radio and television, lectures on biodefense issues, has published numerous letters in the New York Times and other media outlets, and wrote one of the primary scientific critiques of the outbreak for the U.S. Senate. Dr. Perlin is a member of the Executive Committee of the Northeast Biodefense Center, a research-driven consortium of 30+ academic and government institutions in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. He regularly serves on NIH review panels, is on the editorial board of a number of biomedical research journals, and is a member of Senator Jon Corzine's New Jersey Healthcare Taskforce. Dr. Perlin obtained an A.B degree from Brandeis University (1976) and a Ph.D. from Cornell University (1980). He pursued postdoctoral studies in the Department of Human Genetics at the Yale University School of Medicine (1980-1982) and in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine (1983-1985). He joined the Public Health Research Institute in fall 1985. Information about Dr. Perlin's research program is found in the Research Section of the PHRI web site (www.phri.org). Dr. Perlin is a member of the PHRI Executive and Strategic Planning Committees. David Pulver David Pulver is President of Cornerstone Capital, Inc., a private investment company that is involved in a wide range of investments, including public securities, private equity, venture capital and real estate. Prior to starting Cornerstone Capital, Mr. Pulver was Chairman and Co-CEO of The Children's Place, a chain of over 100 children's apparel stores based in Pine Brook, New Jersey, that he co-founded in 1968 and sold in 1982 to Federated Department Stores. He sits on the boards of Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc, which operates 27 televisions stations, and The William Carter Company, a leading manufacturer and retailer of young children's apparel, and is on the Advisory Committee of FLAG Venture Management, LLC, a leading venture capital/private equity fund of funds. He serves on the Board of Directors of PHRI, the Board of Trustees of Colby College, and the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. He earned his B.A. from Colby College and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Mr. Pulver joined the PHRI Board in 2002, and serves as Chair of the PHRI Strategic Planning Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee. Evangeline Tross Evangeline Tross is a Vice President and Assistant Chief Counsel in the Specialty Finance Group of CIT Group Inc. CIT is a commercial and consumer finance company that provides clients with financing and leasing products and advisory services. Her practice includes secondary purchases and sales of consumer loan portfolios and loan securitizations. Before joining CIT, Ms. Tross spent 13 years in the Law Department of Prudential Insurance Company. She is a member of the governing Council of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association and a frequent lecturer and panelist in ABA programs, speaking on the topic of corporate finance techniques and developments. She is a member of the PHRI Board of Directors; the Board of Trustees of the United Way of Essex and West Hudson; and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Grace Counseling Center. She is a graduate of Yale College and the Harvard Law School. Ms. Tross joined the PHRI Board in 2002.