The Partnership is governed by a joint Steering Committee of research and administrative leaders from both institutions.
Aaron Friedman, M.D.
Leader
Dr. Aaron Friedman serves as vice president of health sciences and dean of the Medical School at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Friedman is a pediatric nephrologist and dedicated educator. He conducts research on pediatric kidney disease, examining treatments aimed at preventing kidney failure in children with certain forms of kidney disease. Outside of the University, Friedman is a member of the board of directors of the American Board of Pediatrics, serving as chair in 2008, and is active in the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Robert Rizza, M.D.
Leader
Dr. Robert Rizza is the executive dean for research at Mayo Clinic and past president of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Previously, he has served as the chair of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism and Nutrition at the Mayo Clinic Rochester, president of the Association of Program Directors of Endocrinology and Metabolism, president of the Association of Program Professors. Dr. Rizza is the recipient of the American Diabetes Association’s Outstanding Physician Clinician award as well as the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist’s Distinguished Service to Endocrinology Award.
Tucker LeBien, Ph.D.
Program Director
Dr. Tucker LeBien serves as the Medical School’s vice dean for research, associate vice president for research at the Academic Health Center, and professor in the department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Minnesota. LeBien oversees interdisciplinary research centers, shared resources that provide critical technologies for research faculty, and research compliance and space allocation across the University’s health sciences. As an immunologist, LeBien is a recognized leader in human lymphocyte (blood-cell) development.
Eric Wieben
Program Director
Dr. Eric Wieben is the director of Mayo Clinic Genomics Research Center, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and the Mayo project leader of the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics. Dr. Wieben is on the Board of Directors of the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, an industry lead non-profit group that is working to develop biotechnology business ventures. Dr. Wieben’s research efforts are focused in the area of pharmacogenomics: determining how individual genetic differences influence response to drug treatment.