Craig T. Basson

In July 2022, Craig T. Basson, MD, PhD, joined Olatec’s Board of Directors. A veteran of both large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, Dr. Basson served as Chief Medical Officer, Global Head of Research and Development and/or interim Chief Executive Officer of Boston Pharmaceuticals, Inc., between February 2020 and August 2022 when he became an advisor to the Board of Directors. At Boston Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Basson led the acquisition and development of a broad pipeline of innovative drug candidates into the clinic. In the preceding decade, Dr. Basson served as the Global Head of Translational Medicine for the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Therapeutic Areas at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR) in Cambridge, MA. Leading a team of physicians with expertise in translational medicine, Dr. Basson oversaw more than 10 successful clinical studies and supported the development of EntrestoTM, licogliflozin, iscalimab and abelacimab, among other novel medicines, for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic disorders. Dr. Basson’s experience in drug development synergizes with Olatec’s focus in inflammation, since his work at Novartis advanced clinical programs for the anti-IL-1β biologic, canakinumab (IlarisTM), into multiple disease areas and supported translational studies in the landmark CANTOS trial. Prior to joining Novartis, Dr. Basson was the Gladys and Roland Harriman Professor of Cardiology and Internal Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, whose faculty he joined in 1997. He completed his BA and MA at Washington University in St. Louis, MO and received an MSc in Physiological Sciences from the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar. Dr. Basson holds an MD and PhD from Yale University. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and his clinical Cardiology fellowship and postdoctoral Cardiovascular Genetics fellowship at Harvard University and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Basson is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and a Fellow of the American Heart Association and of the American College of Cardiology. Currently, Dr. Basson is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, while also serving on scientific advisory boards.