Merck appoints Mendelsohn to run CV research

Michael Mendelsohn, MD, has been named Merck’s senior vice president of Merck Research Laboratories and franchise head of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular research.

In his new role, Merck said that Mendelsohn will oversee its scientific direction for drug discovery and development through clinical trials for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular research.

He joins Merck after 17 years at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. He was the founder and for twelve years the executive director of the Tuft’s Molecular Cardiology Research Institute and for the past two years, served as chief scientific officer at Tufts. Mendelsohn has focused his research on signal transduction pathways regulating vascular tone and function.

Mendelsohn will be based at Merck’s site in Rahway, N.J., and will report directly to Luciano Rossetti, MD, senior vice president, of global scientific strategy, according to the Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based company.

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