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Termeer Foundation Names Rare Disease Researcher and CEO as Its 2024 Termeer Scholar

Jun 7, 2024

BOSTON (June 7, 2024) – The Termeer Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on connecting life science innovators until every patient has a cure, announces Charlene Son Rigby as the 2024 Termeer Scholar. Son Rigby is the CEO of Global Genes and has dedicated her career to bridging the gap between data, technology, and the life sciences, with a focus on generating real-world impact for patients with rare genetic diseases.

 

The Termeer Foundation is honored to have Charlene as our 2024 Scholar,” said Catharine Smith, Executive Director of the Termeer Foundation. “Charlene is the ultimate example of a patient advocate and biotech leader.  We’re excited to share the resources in our network to continue her momentum and impact.”

 

Son Rigby’s commitment to rare genetic diseases stems from her daughter’s diagnosis of a rare genetic disorder. As CEO of Global Genes, Son Rigby has set ambitious goals for the RARE-X research program to enhance data-driven approaches that accelerate the development of treatments for rare diseases globally. “Rare disease therapy development is at an inflection point, bringing tremendous promise for transformational impact for rare disease patients,” said Son Rigby. “With more than 10,000 rare diseases, robust and truly scalable data collection is needed to accelerate research and clinical trial readiness.”   

 

With this scholarship, Son Rigby will receive a grant and access to the Termeer Foundation’s values-driven leadership programming, coaching, mentorship, and network building opportunities.

 

ABOUT THE TERMEER SCHOLARS

The Termeer Scholar Award elevates academics and non-profit leaders who are passionate about creating change for patients, are people-focused, and are looking to translate their early-stage ideas into real-world applications. The Award supports individuals with the intention of solving the biggest problems in human health. Those selected as Termeer Scholars receive a grant to support professional development, knowledge advancement, and/or stakeholder engagement. Termeer Scholars also have access to the Termeer Foundation’s values-driven leadership programming encompassing professional development, coaching, mentoring, and network building.

 

ABOUT THE TERMEER FOUNDATION

The Termeer Foundation is a nonprofit organization working to connect the world of healthcare innovators until every patient has a cure. We build and support an ever-expanding network of biotech entrepreneurs, CEOs, academics, and other innovators because we believe that helping people succeed will ultimately help their innovations reach patients. Our support includes mentoring, networking, professional development, and financial grants intended to facilitate connections, break down silos, strengthen skillsets, and ultimately enable a diverse array of current and future healthcare leaders who bring much-needed solutions to patients. Find out more about The Termeer Foundation and how you can support, engage with, and join our network at www.termeerfoundation.org and on LinkedIn @TermeerFoundation.

 

For questions or comments about the Termeer Scholarship or the Termeer Foundation, please contact:

 

Catharine Smith

Executive Director, Termeer Foundation

catharine@termeerfoundation.org

 

Leadership is about putting people first, especially in biotech. But for first-time CEOs and other biotech executives, that vision can be challenging to achieve while also fulfilling the various other duties their jobs require. Indeed, these trailblazers are working to build a successful company and at the same time improve patients’ lives, often without specific training in how to launch and run a business.

At the Termeer Foundation, we, too, are committed to putting people first by empowering these biotech leaders — through values-driven leadership programs that provide skills competency growth, network-building activities, mentorship, and coaching — to enhance their leadership capacity so they can change the world and deliver lifesaving cures to patients.

This human-centered mission is guided by the life’s work of entrepreneur and biotech executive Henri Termeer, who believed deeply in the power of mentorship and nurtured dozens of leaders throughout his career. Shortly after Henri’s passing, a group of his colleagues sought a way to honor and continue his remarkable legacy. They decided to host a dinner and invited several people who had been mentored by Henri. They also invited a handful of first-time biotech CEOs. At the event, guests were asked to help these emerging leaders — offer support, pick up the phone, give advice. In short: Mentor them as Henri would have mentored them.

 Nobody realized it then, but on that evening in May 2018, the Foundation’s flagship program was born, the Termeer Fellows Program, which now provides support for first-time biotech CEOs and entrepreneurs across the globe. While the current program looks quite different than it did in those early days — for example, this year will include 100 hours of values-driven programming — the core principles of mentorship and connection-building remain constant.

 To date, 61 fellows have completed training through the Termeer Fellows Program. Last year’s class included 13 biotech leaders based in the U.S., Canada, England and the Netherlands; the incoming 2024 class — which stands at 15 — is the largest one yet. Fellows have found the program transformative and say it enabled them to become better CEOs. In addition to gaining skills and connections within the Termeer network, the fellows have discovered support and kinship with peers in their own fellowship cohort — valuable connections they can draw on as they continue on their entrepreneurial journey.

 And it is precisely these entrepreneurial journeys that the Termeer Foundation seeks to influence. By increasing the pipeline of skilled, passionate, effective leaders in biotech, we can cultivate a landscape of companies primed for success and, in turn, create a world that is better for patients.