Paul Stoffels, M.D., The Honorable Jane Hartley, and Janet Tobias Honored With 2020 Pasteur Foundation Awards

NEW YORK, March 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, March 3, 2020, the Pasteur Foundation US honored three individuals with its prestigious awards during a special gala. Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson, received the inaugural Louis Pasteur Leadership Award in Public Health. The Honorable Jane Hartley, former United States ambassador to France, was recognized with the Pasteur Foundation US Award. Janet Tobias, Emmy-award winning journalist and documentarian, was honored with the inaugural Pasteur Foundation US Award for Excellence in Public Health.

Each year, inspired both by the current work conducted in biomedical research at the 130-year-old Institut Pasteur and by Louis Pasteur's continuing legacy, the Pasteur Foundation US recognizes individuals who have made outstanding efforts to improve public health research, education and information worldwide. The Pasteur Foundation Awards are a testament to the public-private partnership that improves global health.

The Pasteur Foundation US Board of Directors selected Dr. Stoffels as the 2020 honoree for his long-standing commitment to harnessing innovation in science and technology to advance health for people around the globe. Dr. Stoffels is being honored for a lifetime of important contributions to global public health, including his decades-long work to advance novel treatments and solutions for HIV, leading Johnson & Johnson's efforts to develop an Ebola vaccine, and fueling collaboration and investment in new approaches to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis and mental health. The organization also recognized Dr. Stoffels' current work spearheading a multi-pronged response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including the ongoing development of a potential vaccine candidate.

The Honorable Jane Hartley was recognized for demonstrating outstanding Franco-American activities and exchange. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and on the Board of Overseers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is also a member of the Visiting Committee at the Kennedy School at Harvard University as well as the Executive Committee and the Dean's Council, and has previously provided analysis of key government policies affecting the global capital markets.

Ms. Tobias, also a 2020 inaugural honoree, received the award for her leadership in public health journalism, covering international issues and global health pandemics. She was previously nominated for a Writers Guild award for both of her feature documentaries, No Place On Earth and Unseen Enemy.

The event was held at 583 Park Avenue under the patronage of HE Philippe Etienne, Ambassador of France to the United States, and HE Anne-Claire Legendre, Consul General of France to New York. François Maisonrouge, Dr. Mireille Gillings and Pablo Legorreta were Dinner Chairs.

About the Pasteur Foundation US
The Pasteur Foundation is the US 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliate of the world-renowned Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, whose mission is to improve public health by contributing to the prevention and treatment of disease.  The proceeds of the March 3^rd dinner will be used to further the Foundation's mission, which includes a series of programs to bring American scientists – from undergraduates to senior post-doctoral scientists – to carry out research in the Institut Pasteur's laboratories in France and international network of 33 sites on 5 continents.

For information about the Pasteur Foundation US, please visit www.pasteurfoundation.org or contact Gregory A. Corsico, Executive Director, Pasteur Foundation, 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1654, New York, New York 10170. Tel: 212.599.2050.

About Paul Stoffels, M.D.
Paul Stoffels is a visionary leader who inspires and drives transformational innovation to bring years of life and quality of life to millions of people around the world.

Paul spearheads the Johnson & Johnson research and product pipeline by leading teams across all sectors to set the companywide innovation agenda, discovering and developing transformational healthcare solutions. He also is responsible for the safety of all products of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies worldwide, and steers the company's global public health strategy to make innovative medicines and technologies accessible in the world's most vulnerable communities and resource-poor settings.

Paul's commitment to fueling innovation and finding the best science, wherever it exists, is the driving force behind the launch of Johnson & Johnson Innovation in 2013, which he now leads to foster science and technology through strategic partnerships, licensing and acquisitions. Paul also oversees JJDC, the oldest corporate venture fund in the life science industry.

Previously, in his role as Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals, Paul led the transformation of the pharmaceutical research and development pipeline for Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, driving a fundamental shift in the research and development (R&D) paradigm that is now a model in the industry for productivity and innovation. Under his leadership, Janssen rejuvenated its pipeline, launching multiple new medicines and making a difference for people all over the world.

Prior to this, Paul held various R&D leadership roles within the pharmaceutical sector of Johnson & Johnson. He joined Johnson & Johnson in 2002 with the acquisition of Virco and Tibotec, where he was Chief Executive Officer of Virco and Chairman of Tibotec, and led the development of several breakthrough products for the treatment of HIV that helped to transform this devastating disease from a death sentence to a chronic and treatable condition.

Paul studied Medicine at the University of Diepenbeek and the University of Antwerp in Belgium and Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. He began his career as a physician in Africa, focusing on HIV and tropical diseases research.

About Hon. Jane Hartley
The Honorable Jane Hartley's career has garnered successes and accolades in both the public and private sectors. Hartley currently serves as a member of the Visiting Committee at the Kennedy School at Harvard University as well as the Executive Committee and the Dean's Council. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a member of the Board of Overseers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Most recently, Hartley served as Ambassador to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco from 2014–2017.

Prior to her ambassadorship, Hartley was Chief Executive Officer of the Observatory Group, an international economic and political advisory firm providing analysis of key government policies affecting the global capital markets. Hartley's career has always spanned the public and private sectors having served as a Vice President of both Universal (MCA) and Westinghouse Broadcasting, as well as having a post at the White House during the Carter Administration. In addition to her other board position, Hartley is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Sesame Workshop (Sesame Street) and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for American Progress. Hartley is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Hartley was awarded the Legion of Honour for her service as Ambassador in 2017.

About Janet Tobias
Ms. Tobias is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning director, producer, and writer with parallel careers in medicine/technology and film/television. In 2004 she founded Ikana Health & Media to focus on how health content, technology, and social networks affect health behavior. Ikana makes content, drives advocacy and designs solutions for global health.

Tobias started her film and television career at CBS' 60 Minutes as Diane Sawyer's associate producer. She then worked as a producer at ABC News' Prime Time Live, and at Dateline NBC. She went on to serve as an executive producer at VNI (which is owned by the New York Times). After working in network television, she moved to PBS, creating and producing the Emmy-award winning PBS program Life 360.

In 2012, Tobias' first feature documentary, No Place on Earth, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was released both in North America and Europe. Her most recent feature documentaries are Unseen Enemy, about the 21st century threat of epidemics and pandemics, and Memory Games, about four of the world's best memory competitors. Both films have been broadcast/streamed around the world. She was nominated for a Writers Guild award for both No Place On Earth and Unseen Enemy.

Tobias holds faculty positions at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Columbia University's School of International Affairs and Public Policy, and holds the title of Research Professor of Global Public Health in the NYU Global Institute of Public Health.

Media contact:
Gregory A. Corsico
212.599.2050

SOURCE Pasteur Foundation US