John C Reed M.D.

For John C. Reed, M.D., chief executive officer of the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, leadership and innovation sit on the skills list beside a less common on-the-job accomplishment: saving lives.

"Something I'm proud of is that at least in the case of medicines I invented in the laboratory, one medicine has saved lives," Reed said. "I went to the FDA hearing, and patients with terminal cancer went on that experimental therapy and are alive and well. To know you've actually saved lives is an enormously rewarding accomplishment."

Reed's inventions have resulted in more than 40 U.S. patents or patent applications, and have led to drug-discovery programs at several biopharmaceutical companies.
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