New president, CEO, at Scripps Research Institute

City News Service

The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla has a new president and chief executive officer, a renowned biochemist who assumed the post at the start of the new year.

Michael A. Marletta joined the Scripps Research Institute faculty last

July, following his selection by the board of trustees as the institute’s next head.

He succeeds Dr. Richard A. Lerner, who led the nonprofit biomedical

research organization, recognized for its discoveries including those in

immunology and vaccine development, for more than two decades.

I’m excited to by the opportunity to advance the institute’s mission,

creating knowledge in the biosciences and applying that knowledge to

understanding and curing human disease,’’ Marletta said.

Marletta, a former recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, moved to

Scripps Research from the University of California at Berkeley, where he chaired the department of chemistry, co-directed the chemical biology graduate program and taught chemistry and biochemistry classes.