An in-depth interview with Joan Levy
Fueling the pipeline of drug development
Joan Levy, Vice President of Research
of the MMRF and MMRC
We sat down with Joan Levy, Vice
science during her time in academia and
of the Multiple Myeloma Research
President of Research at the Multiple
then get closer to treatments during her
Consortium to launch investigator-
Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF)
time in pharma, at the MMRF she hit
sponsored initiatives.
and its clinical research arm, the Multiple
the trifecta. Here, Levy is able to work
Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC),
with the best of the best in industry,
to discuss her role and the revolutionary
academia and government, all while
research the Foundation is involved
focusing on speeding the delivery of
with to advance the discovery and
new treatments to patients.
speed the development of multiple
Ultimately, Levy’s goal is to build
a balanced pipeline of molecularly
targeted, immune, and novel agents
that will improve and extend the lives
of myeloma patients. She does this by
Today, Levy helps bridge the gap
working with the clinical operations
between translational research and
team to ensure that the transition from
Levy joined the MMRF eight years ago
clinical development. She and the
clinical trial concept to opening of the
to focus more directly on patients. She
Research team are building a robust
trial at MMRC sites happens as quickly
came with extensive academic and
multiple myeloma clinical trial pipeline
and efficiently as possible. Last year,
industry experience, working in both
by working closely with industry to
the MMRF opened a record number
oncology and osteoporosis. While she
identify novel drugs and combinations
of multiple myeloma clinical trials, and
enjoyed being able to dig deep into the
that may be a match for a company-
Levy hopes to do so again this year.
myeloma treatments.
sponsored trial. Levy also works
with investigators from the 22 sites
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T HE MMRF.ORG