First Woman President and CEO of MSM and Internationally Recognized Health Equity Advocate Joins in GeoVax Special Advisory Role
ATLANTA, GA, Dec. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing immunotherapies and vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today the appointment of Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG, Morehouse School of Medicine President and CEO, as Special Advisor to the Chairman/CEO and Board of Directors of GeoVax.
Dr. Montgomery Rice brings GeoVax exceptional expertise and highly recognized experience at the highest levels of healthcare leadership, patient care, biomedical research, and public health policy.
“We are delighted Dr. Montgomery Rice is joining in this unique advisory role for GeoVax’s growing ecosystem of outstanding executives, advisors, board members, scientists, and partners,” said David Dodd, GeoVax Chairman and CEO. “Her organizational management acumen and career-long dedication to advance medical training, health equity and other critical areas of public health, will add dimension to our initiatives to expand access to our investigational vaccines and immunotherapies against life-threatening infectious diseases and cancers.”
Dr. Montgomery Rice has been a driving force behind research, education and care that closes equity gaps in healthcare, including women’s health. She currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) in Atlanta and is the first woman in the institution’s history to serve in this role. At MSM, she has also served as Dean and Executive Vice President and professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Prior to MSM, Dr. Montgomery Rice held a number of faculty and leadership positions at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, including professor and chair in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dean and Senior Vice President of Meharry Medical College’s School of Medicine, and Program Director of the OB-GYN Residency Training Program and Founding Director of the Center for Women’s Health Research, one of the nation’s first research centers devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color. Dr. Montgomery Rice also served in faculty and leadership roles at University of Kansas School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Henry Ford Medical Center.
Dr. Montgomery Rice holds memberships in various organizations and participates on several boards. She is an Advisory Board Member of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Capital Financing Advisory Board. She also serves on the board of directors for UnitedHealth Group, Wellpath, 23&Me, Nemours, CARE USA, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, and the Moffit Cancer Center. In 2021, Governor Brian Kemp appointed Dr. Montgomery Rice to the Georgia Commission on Women, where she lends her depth of knowledge and expertise as a women’s health researcher to improve the life of women and their families in Georgia. In March 2022, President Joe Biden appointed Dr. Montgomery Rice to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.
“I am particularly excited about GeoVax’s innovative programs focused on providing the public protection from the most pressing and emerging infectious disease threats,” said Dr. Montgomery Rice. “I look forward to helping GeoVax as the company progresses its vaccine and immunology programs toward patients.”
Dedicated to the creation and advancement of health equity, Dr. Montgomery Rice’s career has been recognized with numerous accolades and honors, notably, the Horatio Alger Award, the National Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee Atlanta, the Dean Griffin Community Service Award from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Girls Inc. 2019 Smart Award, the National Medical Association OB/GYN 2019 Legend of the Section Award, the Turknett Leadership Character Award, Visions of Excellence Award from the Atlanta Business League, the Links Incorporated Co-Founders Award, the Trumpet Vanguard Award, the Dorothy I. Height Crystal Stair Award, National Coalition of 100 Black Women - Women of Impact, YWCA – Women of Achievement of Atlanta and Nashville, American Medical Women’s Association Elizabeth Blackwell Medal, and Working Mother Media Multicultural Women’s Legacy Award.
Dr. Montgomery Rice holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a medical degree from Harvard Medical School, an honorary degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree from Rush University.
About GeoVax
GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel therapies and vaccines for cancers and many of the world’s most threatening infectious diseases. The company’s lead program in oncology is a novel oncolytic solid tumor gene-directed therapy, Gedeptin®, presently in a multicenter Phase 1/2 clinical trial for advanced head and neck cancers. GeoVax’s lead infectious disease candidate is GEO-CM04S1, a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine targeting high-risk immunocompromised patient populations. Currently in two Phase 2 clinical trials, GEO-CM04S1 is being evaluated as a single-dose, COVID-19 vaccine for immunocompromised patients such as those suffering from hematologic cancers and other patient populations for whom the current authorized COVID-19 vaccines are insufficient. In addition, GEO-CM04S1 is in a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the vaccine as a more robust, durable COVID-19 booster among healthy patients who previously received the mRNA vaccines. GeoVax has a leadership team who have driven significant value creation across multiple life science companies over the past several decades. For more information, visit our website: www.geovax.com.
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