2009-11-10 14:24:17 -

CHI-California Healthcare Institute announced today that C.L. Max Nikias, Ph.D., executive vice president and provost at the University of Southern California, and Katie Szyman, senior vice president and president of Medtronic Diabetes, have been elected to its board of directors. CHI is a nonprofit public policy research organization, representing leading California academic institutions, biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics and pharmaceutical firms.

“Max and Katie are important and welcome additions to our board,” said David L. Gollaher, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, CHI.

“Max is a great leader in academia, whose experience and insights will inform our policy initiatives. Katie is a distinguished executive in the medical technology realm, leading a company that is developing innovative technologies for diabetes, one of the

most serious unmet medical challenges our industry is working to conquer today.”


C.L. Max Nikias has served as USC’s second-ranking officer since June 2005 and has been responsible for accelerating the academic momentum that the university has experienced in recent years. He oversees a vast academic community, consisting of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the Keck School of Medicine, and 16 professional schools, as well as the divisions of student affairs, libraries, information technology services, student religious life, and enrollment services. He has led USC’s efforts to seize a leading role in medicine and biology, playing a key role in the recent purchase of two university hospitals that will serve as a world-class academic medical center. The CEO of the USC hospitals reports directly to Nikias. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and fellow of both the IEEE and AAAS. He received a diploma from the National Technical University of Athens, the oldest and most prestigious higher education institution of Greece, and earned a master’s degree in science and a doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Katie Szyman was named senior vice president and president of Medtronic’s diabetes business in August 2009. In this role, Szyman oversees research, development, operations, sales and marketing for the company’s world leading insulin infusion pumps and continuous glucose monitoring systems based in Northridge, Calif. Previously, Szyman served as senior vice president of corporate strategy and innovation for Medtronic where she led the company’s strategy, corporate development, ventures, and science & technology functions. Szyman first joined Medtronic in 1991 and has held a variety of leadership positions within the company. Most recently, Szyman served as vice president and general manager of endovascular innovations, a division of the cardiovascular business based in Santa Rosa, Calif. She has also served in several international positions in Belgium and Switzerland. In addition, Szyman led key corporate functions as vice president of corporate strategy in Minneapolis and as vice president of finance for the vascular business in Santa Rosa, Calif. Szyman graduated magna cum laude from the University of St. Thomas in 1988 and received her master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School in 1997.

About CHI.

CHI represents more than 250 leading biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical companies, and public and private academic biomedical research organizations. CHI’s mission is to advance responsible public policies that foster medical innovation and promote scientific discovery. CHI’s Web site is www.chi.org : cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww .. .



California Healthcare InstituteSarah Thailing, 619-994-1895 Thailing@chi.org : mailto:Thailing@chi.org