CEO Roundtable on Cancer Appoints Andrew Crighton Chief Executive Officer and Announces New Role for Founding CEO, Martin Murphy


CARY, N.C., Dec. 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The CEO Roundtable on Cancer (CEORT) today announced the appointment of K. Andrew Crighton, MD to serve as chief executive officer, beginning in January 2020.  Dr. Crighton will succeed founding CEO, Martin J. Murphy, DMedSc, PhD, who will remain with the organization as a member of the board of directors and leader of several vital projects.

Dr. Crighton recently retired as chief medical officer after a 20-year career at Prudential Financial, where he oversaw the health and well-being, safety and medical businesses worldwide and led a strategic transformation of the business towards a more holistic view of health, including physical, emotional, social, spiritual, financial and cognitive well-being, engaging business leaders to develop measures that identify the impact of the work environment on well-being at individual and organizational levels.

“Andy’s track record as a committed and accomplished public health leader will build on the legacy and impact of the organization, which was conceived by President Bush in 2000, and brought to life by Marty Murphy with extraordinary results for cancer patients around the world,” said Robert A. Bradway, chairman of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer and chairman and CEO, Amgen Inc.

“I am honored to join the CEO Roundtable on Cancer at a time when so many initiatives are advancing that harness the power of data to improve and accelerate new therapies for patients," said Dr. Crighton.

"The CEO Roundtable has provided powerful evidence for the value of aggregated data that is already advancing personalized medicine for the benefit of cancer patients and their families. I’m also excited to partner with the organization to expand its flagship CEO Cancer Gold Standard program to an even more diverse network of companies, increase membership and broaden its access beyond the more than seven million employees who are already benefiting by working at enlightened Gold Standard accredited companies,” Crighton added.

While Dr. Murphy will transition from day-to-day leadership of the CEORT, he will remain actively involved as both a member of the board of directors and as leader of several key projects, including his role of chief executive of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer-China.

“When President Bush challenged Bob Ingram and Marty Murphy to take our cancer crusade to the corporate world, not even he envisioned how successful the CEO Roundtable would become. He was proud of them and their accomplishments.  And he knew one of the main reasons for their success was the fact no one could say ‘no’ to Marty Murphy. Not even the President.  Congratulations, Marty, on a job well done,” said Jean Becker, chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush from 1994 to 2018.

Dr. Murphy is a world-renowned cancer researcher who has authored more than 160 peer-reviewed papers in globally statured medical journals. Since joining the CEORT as its founding CEO in 2000 at the request of President Bush, Dr. Murphy built the CEORT into a global organization leading the pursuit of both cancer prevention and innovative approaches to hastening the development and registration of life-lengthening therapies.

“Please accept my most sincere gratitude to you for your great contributions to the health of all of China’s people and the world beyond. As chief executive officer of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer you have shared a deep friendship with the Chinese people and our health community that will be remembered by all of us.  As you retire from your many arduous duties in the United States, we are grateful that you retain your responsibilities for the CEO Roundtable on Cancer-China that you founded,” said His Excellency CHEN Zhu, MD, PhD, former Minister of Health, People's Republic of China.

About the CEO Roundtable on Cancer
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded by Dr. Martin J. Murphy and Mr. Robert A. Ingram in 2000 at the request of President George H. W. Bush who issued a challenge to harness the power of CEOs to do something “bold and venturesome” to defeat cancer.  The CEORT has grown to include member companies from all over the world.  The organization is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina and Shanghai, China. President Bush, the first Envoy from the United States to China in 1976, has long been held in high regard in China.

The CEO Roundtable on Cancer responded to President Bush's call to action with the creation of the following programs:

  • CEO Cancer Gold Standard – An employer-led, wellness accreditation program addressing prevention, diagnosis and quality treatment
     
  • Life Sciences Consortium – A collaboration of research organizations addressing grand challenges that cannot be solved by any one company alone, including:

    -- Project Data Sphere® – An independent initiative providing an open-access digital library-laboratory to share, integrate and analyze cancer clinical trial data in close collaboration with world regulatory authorities, e.g., US FDA, Europe’s EMA and China’s NMPA.
     
  • CEO Roundtable on Cancer-China – A first-in-class non-governmental organization (NGO), bringing the Gold Standard™ employer-led health and wellness model to China

Under Dr. Murphy’s leadership, the CEORT has certified hundreds of Gold-Standard employers benefiting more than seven million employees, established key relationships with the FDA and other world regulatory agencies, health care companies and other parties that are committed to improving and hastening the development of therapies for cancer patients, and expanding programs that benefit cancer prevention in the US, as well as in China.

For further information please contact:

Ken Lee
information@ceoroundtableoncancer.org