Deborah Keller, an experienced life sciences executive, has been appointed chair of the board of trustees for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the patent and licensing arm of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Keller succeeds Dr. Jim Berbee, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, who was appointed board chair in 2018, WARF said in a press release.
Keller served nearly 30 years at Covance Inc., the drug development business of Burlington, North Carolina-based Laboratory Corp. of America (NYSE: LH), which has a laboratory in Madison. She retired from Covance in 2016 when she was CEO of the Covance Drug Development division.
At Covance, Keller was responsible for $3 billion in revenue and more than 12,000 employees in 125 countries involved in all phases of drug development from late discovery to commercialization services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, WARF said.
"Her leadership is evident in all her contributions to WARF and UW and her expertise in drug development is an important complement to WARF and UW-Madison's portfolio of work in this area," said Erik Iverson, WARF CEO.
Keller is the founder of Black Frame Advisors LLC, a health care and pharmaceutical industry advisory firm. She serves as chair of Avalere Health and as a director for West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. Keller received Fierce Biotech's Top 10 Women in Biotech Award in 2012 and the Healthcare Business Women's Association Rising Star Award in 2007.
Keller, who lives in Madison and has served on the WARF board since 2017, called UW-Madison "one of our state's greatest assets."
"UW's research community is one of the finest engines of innovation in the world, meeting the complex challenges of today and the future," she said in a press release. "WARF is a storied organization with a mission to support research and innovation and helping the citizens of Wisconsin and others around the world, ranging from developing life-saving medicines such as warfarin to funding environmental monitoring stations, part of the 'Wisconet,' which aid agriculture and other industry in Wisconsin."
WARF patents and licenses discoveries from UW-Madison research, manages a $3 billion investment portfolio generated from licensing and investment proceeds, and provides annual grants to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research to support further scientific investigation and research. For the 2023-'24 academic year, WARF provided $134.1 million in support for UW-Madison and its affiliates.
