CRO

After CEO's death, Health Decisions brings in a Quintiles vet to lead its transition

Health Decisions, a week removed from the plane crash that claimed the life of its CEO, has recruited a CRO veteran from the University of North Carolina (UNC) to step in as interim chief executive and oversee its transition.

Dr. G. Stephen DeCherney will take the reins as Health Decisions seeks a permanent replacement for Michael Rosenberg. DeCherney comes from UNC, where he serves as a professor of medicine and business. He's a former member of the board of CRO Theorem Clinical Research and previously held the roles of chief innovation officer at Quintiles ($Q) and executive vice president at PRA ($PRAH).

"I look forward to working with the Health Decisions Executive Team to ensure continuity in management at all levels," DeCherney said in a statement. "Our first priorities are to continue providing high-quality, high-efficiency services to sponsors of Health Decisions' ongoing clinical trials and to bring additional projects in the pipeline to fruition."

Rosenberg, who founded the company in 1989, died last week after crashing a private plane into a house in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. The crash also claimed the lives of two passengers and three residents of the home.

Health Decisions has conducted business without interruption in the days since, and appointing DeCherney, a longtime friend of Rosenberg's, is the next step in a difficult process, the company said.

"Our executive team knows Steve very well, and I know that he will keep Health Decisions on a successful path consistent with our company DNA, which is innovation that provides high efficiency while maintaining high quality in clinical development services," Executive Vice President James Higgins said. "Steve is not only a fine clinical research professional and executive, but also an innovator in his own right."

- read the statement