VP Clinical Development

Dr. Darlene Deecher joined AiViva in September 2019 as the head of clinical development. Dr. Deecher has more than 25 years of applied research, clinical development, and commercialization experience consistently delivering outstanding results by scientific confidence, perseverance, and adaptability to changing business environments. She has led and managed therapeutic portfolios and operations in 3 major drug development sectors including Fortune 500-Pharmaceutical Companies, Clinical Research Organization (CRO), and a leading patient advocacy foundation, consistently exceeding annual organizational goals.

Throughout her career, Dr. Deecher has been a recognized scientific leader in designing and improving drug discovery and development processes to accelerate drugs and devices through the pharmaceutical pipeline to meet registration requirements and prepare for successful commercialization of products. At Covance she was the strategic leader for phase II-IV trials/programs for the Cardiovascular, Metabolic, Endocrinology, and Renal therapeutic area. Before Covance, Dr. Deecher held the position as Senior Vice President of Research, Development, and Advocacy at a leading patient organization, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Her responsibilities included managing all aspects of drug and device research in glucose control and diabetic complications, including prevention strategies in immunology and microbiome. Prior to joining JDRF, she completed more than 15 years of service leading the women’s health research and development programs at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (Pfizer) and was part of the senior leadership team responsible for discovery, development, life-cycle strategy, commercialization, and market launch of various assets within the women’s health and neuroscience therapeutic portfolios. Additionally, she led and developed scientific platforms and communication strategies to reposition products for new medical indications with successful completion of therapies through registration. She began her career at Abbott Laboratories in the new Lead Optimization Discovery Group, creating a neuroscience screening group and coordinating target identification activities.

Her broad therapeutic expertise includes diabetes, endocrinology, cardiovascular, renal, women’s health, neuroscience, and general medicine. Throughout her career, she has won numerous impact awards for her individual and organizational contributions, including being selected by the Wyeth President to the “Future Leaders” program. Dr. Deecher completed her doctorate at Syracuse University and her postdoctoral training in pharmacology at Cornell University and Albany Medical College. Additionally, she holds a Master certification in regulatory science and quality assurance from Temple University.