DxInsights Names Ethan K. Knowlden Executive Director

TUCSON, Ariz. and BOSTON, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- DxInsights, a nonprofit, independent organization dedicated to educating industry, academicians, healthcare community and payers on the power of diagnostics, has announced the appointment of Ethan K. Knowlden as Executive Director.  Mr. Knowlden will work directly with DxInsights' Board and Steering Committee and will be responsible for the operations and activities of the association on a day-to-day basis, in addition to maintaining a strategic vision for the organization in order to achieve its stated objectives. 

"We are pleased to have Ethan join our ranks as we accelerate DxInsights' impact in healthcare," said Mara G. Aspinall, President/Chief Executive Officer of Ventana Medical Systems and Founder of DxInsights.  "The combination of his unique skills and experience in both the diagnostics and pharmaceutical industry is invaluable, and his leadership will help us achieve our goal to educate key decision-makers on the impact of diagnostics."

Prior to joining DxInsights, Mr. Knowlden was with Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc. for the last 12 years in both Emeryville, CA, and London, U.K., and most recently served as Vice President, Business Development & Licensing, Corporate Counsel for the Diagnostics unit.  He has significant transactional and commercial experience with a wide range of diagnostic technologies, including ELISA, PCR and DNA microarrays, as well as next-generation sequencing.  Mr. Knowlden received his J.D. from the University of Virginia and his B.A. from Wesleyan University.

"Having been involved in diagnostics for over a decade, I know there is a great need to educate those who are impacted by and make decisions about the use of these important tools," said Knowlden.  "I am very excited to work with this extremely impressive organization and its strong leadership to accelerate all healthcare stakeholders' understanding of the value and influence of diagnostics in important healthcare decisions."

According to  DxInsights' most recent white paper, diagnostics offer the critical data a physician needs to design a treatment plan for each patient, providing information for 60 percent of the medical care decisions made today, but accounting for only two percent of the spend. Diagnostics are not well understood or valued by many providers, payers, policymakers or patients.   

DxInsights is committed to ensuring that this information is understood and embraced by critical decision-makers to improve patient outcomes and reducing costs in healthcare.  As a result, DxInsights' Founder, Kristin Pothier, led a panel on April 22^nd at BIO 2013 in Chicago on "Panacea or Pain: Collaboration in Personalized Medicine."  In addition, DxInsights recently hosted the first of its free Essentials of Diagnostics webinar series on "Understanding Reimbursement" on April 29^th at 12 noon ET.  For more details, please go to www.dxinsights.net.

About DxInsights
Founded by seasoned executives involved in all facets of diagnostics including development, commercialization, regulatory, reimbursement and communications, DxInsights has gathered the most relevant information in all of the above areas to create a central reference hub for healthcare executives, the medical, regulatory and reimbursement communities as well as patients to easily access information in one place and learn about the critical role of diagnostics in guiding the future of healthcare, including personalized medicine.  DxInsights was founded by Mara Aspinall, President/Chief Executive Officer of Ventana Medical Systems and Kristin Ciriello Pothier, Partner, Health Advances and co-founded by Hathaway Pease Russell Partner, Foley Hoag, and Terri Clevenger, President, Continuum Health Communications.

DxInsights' Web site, www.dxinsights.net, provides information on the diagnostics industry including scientific research, industry reports, legal decisions, mergers & acquisitions, regulatory issues and reimbursement needs. It also provides helpful links to other important resources in the diagnostics world.  DxInsights encourages any and all members of the healthcare community to become a member at no charge.  Funding is through educational grants and sponsorships.

For more information about DxInsights, please visit www.dxinsights.net.

SOURCE DxInsights