April 17, 2019

Fischer to step down as chief executive officer and chief scientific and innovation officer, will remain as Senior Executive for Innovation and Discovery

Source: IBRI

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) today announced that Rainer Fischer, Ph.D., chief executive officer (CEO) and chief scientific and innovation officer (CSIO) will step down as both CEO and CSIO effective immediately. Fischer will remain with the IBRI and assume the role of Senior Executive for Innovation and Discovery.

In this role, Fischer will continue to attract new partners for sponsored and contract research, and new donors and grant-makers. He also will continue to build out research labs at Purdue University as part of a presidential fellowship in the life sciences and a research professorship in the departments of biological sciences and chemistry he received from Purdue last year.

“My first love is science, particularly research and development, and facilitating the scientific and funding partnerships necessary to yield meaningful and major discoveries,” Fischer said. “In this more focused scientific and discovery role, I will be even more effective in helping to grow the IBRI’s partnerships, funding and talent.”

Fischer joined the IBRI in April 2017 as CSIO after serving 19 years as senior executive director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology in Aachen, Germany, and other locations around the world. In October 2017, he was also named IBRI CEO with the departure of the IBRI’s founding CEO, David Broecker, who stepped down to found Zorian Medical, an Indianapolis-based medical device startup.

“We’re grateful for Dr. Fischer’s service in these dual roles, which included broadening the IBRI’s diabetes research and expanding our focus to include the newly created Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Center,” said Dan Evans, chairman of the board. “We have initiated a search to find a CEO who will support Dr. Fischer and the entire IBRI team with the leadership, vision and capabilities necessary to maintain our growth. During this time, we expect to conduct business as usual with no disruptions in research or operations.”

About the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute

The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) is an independent, nonprofit discovery science and applied research institute currently targeting diabetes, metabolic disease, poor nutrition and related health data science. Inspired by the state and Indiana’s leading life sciences companies, research universities and philanthropic community, the IBRI is building a world-class organization of researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs to catalyze scientific discovery and its application, resulting in improved health outcomes for patients. For more information and donation or collaboration opportunities, please go to: www.indianabiosciences.org

Contact: Mark Craft Executive Director, Engagement, Communications and External Affairs mcraft@indianabiosciences.org 317-670-2270