ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MichBiowelcomes Uma Sharma, PhD Chief Scientific Officer at MMS Holdings and Ron Perry Vice President and General Manager at Emergent BioSolutions to the Board of Directors.

Uma Sharma, PhD was appointed in mid-August to complete a term expiring in December 2021. As the CSO of MMS Holdings, she is a hands-on leader focused on guiding sponsors on clinical strategy and colleagues through an inclusive leadership model. Dr. Sharma has a personal philosophy of paying it forward and engaging employees in the decision-making process which has resulted in record employee retention rates at MMS.

Prior to MMS, Dr. Sharma was a clinical leader at Parke-Davis and Pfizer, having managed large Phase 3 programs, navigated clinical teams through two mergers, and directed executive management through highly critical decisions at key stages in drug development.

Dr. Sharma holds a doctorate of pharmacology from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan and is a welcome addition to the MichBio Board of Directors.

Ron Perry was elected to the Board at the Annual Member Meeting in June for an unfinished term expiring December 2020. Mr. Perry rejoins the Board having served previously from June 2019 to December 2020. Throughout his career, Mr. Perry has been recognized as an accomplished executive accustomed to high-stakes accountability, international strategic and operational leadership, and inclusive management.

Prior to Emergent, Mr. Perry worked at Pfizer for 23 years in various senior leadership roles including, most recently, Vice President and Site Leader for the Kalamazoo manufacturing site and Vice President of Global Procurement.

Mr. Perry earned his MBA from Pennsylvania State University and BS in Packaging from Michigan State University.

“I am very happy to welcome Dr. Sharma and Mr. Perry to the Board,” says Stephen Rapundalo, PhD, President and CEO of MichBio. “Both have a long history of leadership in the life sciences and proven strategic vision that will help guide MichBio as we continue to drive bio-industry growth into the future.”

Dr. Sharma and Mr. Perry become part of a seventeen-member Board that in late June 2020, elected Ken Massey, PhD, Director of Venture Development at Wayne State University as Chair, and Kevin McLeod, CEO of C2Dx as Vice Chair. Robert Donofrio, PhD, Vice President of Food Safety R&D at Neogen and Sandra Pennell, Controller at Vericel, were elected into non-voting Officer roles as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. For the full list of Board members visit michbio.org/page/BOD.

For more information on MichBio visit michbio.org

MichBio is the trade association committed to driving growth in Michigan’s biosciences industry and its many sectors, including agri-biotech, food and nutrition, bio-based technologies and renewable chemicals, industrial and environmental biotech, medical devices and technologies, pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare, diagnostics and research products, testing and research services, and clinical research. MichBio members include bioscience companies, academic and research institutions, bioscience service providers, and related organizations. For more information, visit www.michbio.org or follow us on Twitter @MichBio.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200818005754/en/