Cures Within Reach honors Dr. Norbert G. Riedel with Patient Impact Legacy Award

CHICAGO - Feb. 5, 2014 - PRLog -- This premier dinner event provides a high level networking space for the BioScience community, honoring leaders creating patient impact through their research, business and philanthropic achievements, and raises funds for the mission of Cures Within Reach, improving patient quality and length of life by facilitating research that repurposes drugs, devices and nutriceuticals.

The Gala, held at the Standard Club of Chicago, will be chaired by Chicago’s philanthropic leader, Nancy Searle, and by Nancy Joseph-Ridge, Head of Global Development and General Manager for the Pharmaceutical Development Division at Takeda Pharmaceuticals.  A co-chair committee of regional leaders will join them in supporting and growing the event, which enjoyed great success in its 2013 inauguration.   “We are so happy to be gathering in celebration of Norbert’s ongoing success and his sincere commitment to the biomedical community in the region.   The work of Cures Within Reach to create near-term patient impact embodies the impulse of all of us who want to make a difference in the health of our communities,” says Nancy Searle.

Dr. Norbert Riedel is known and respected globally for his accomplishments in the pharmaceutical industry and his combination of scientific and business acumen.  His significant contributions to the Midwest are apparent in his 15-years of service as corporate Vice President and Chief Science and Innovation Officer at Baxter International and his very recent appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Naurex, Inc.  Naurex is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing products to treat diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).

Earlier in his tenure, Dr. Riedel was president and general manager of the recombinant proteins unit and vice president of research and development for Baxter's Bioscience business. Previously, Dr. Riedel was head of worldwide biotechnology and core research functions at Hoechst Marion Roussel, now Sanofi. He also held a number of scientific management positions at Hoechst-Marion Roussel and Hoechst. Dr. Riedel serves on the boards of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Ariad Pharmaceuticals and the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization. Dr. Riedel is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and was appointed by Governor Pat Quinn to serve on the Illinois Innovation Council. He is an adjunct professor of biochemistry and medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and adjunct professor of medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Riedel received a Diploma and Ph.D. from the University of Frankfurt and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

More than 275 key industry influencers gathered last year to honor Forest City’s Michael S. Rosen, Senior Vice President of Business Development for the Illinois Science + Technology Park.  Sponsorships included Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Horizon Pharmaceuticals, Ernst & Young, Cannon Design, McGuireWoods, CBRE, PathoCapital, Paragon Pharmaceuticals, the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the University of Illinois.

Cures Within Reach is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working to improve patient quality and length of life through Rediscovery Research^TM by facilitating pilot clinical trials testing repurposed treatments designed to be immediately incorporated into clinical practice.  Through its work bringing stakeholders together around this powerful path to patient impact, it has played a role in the development of 10 treatments in clinical use and is currently stewarding 18 medical research projects through its partner institutions across the country and around the world.

Tickets will be available March 1^st at www.cureswithinreach.org.  For sponsorship information, please contact Amy Conn.

Cures Within Reach Contact
Amy Conn
Director of Advancement
Cures Within Reach
(847)745-1246
amy@cureswithinreach.org