Kansas City, Mo. (April 13, 2009) – The Board of Directors of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research has approved a two-year leadership succession plan that will result in David M. Chao, Ph.D., current president and chief executive officer of BioMed Valley Discoveries Inc., becoming president and CEO of the Stowers Institute in 2010. William B. Neaves, Ph.D., the Institute’s founding president and CEO, will transition to the role of president emeritus and undertake new responsibilities to carry the Institute into the future.

     Implementation of the plan proposed by Neaves began after approval by the Board in September 2008. The transition plan was announced to the members of the Institute in November 2008 and will be completed in July 2010.

     On July 1, 2009, under the approved succession plan, Chao, age 41, will assume the role of president of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. Neaves will continue as chief executive officer of the Institute during the next year of the transition period. On July 1, 2010, Chao will add chief executive officer duties to his responsibilities and Neaves will become president emeritus. At that time, Chao will become co-chairman of BioMed Valley Discoveries and resign from his position as its president and CEO.

     “This succession plan ensures that the Stowers Institute will continue to be led in the exemplary manner carefully established through Bill Neaves’ visionary leadership over the past decade,” said Richard W. Brown, co-chairman of the Stowers Institute.

     “Largely due to Bill Neaves’ unparalleled leadership, the Stowers Institute has far exceeded expectations for scientific discoveries and milestones achieved to date, and in a relatively short timeframe, established an international reputation as a medical research organization of excellence.

     Dave Chao,” Brown continued, “is the right person to carry forward Jim and Virginia Stowers’ clear vision for the Institute: to improve human health by conducting basic biomedical research of high quality and fundamental importance.”

     Chao joined the Stowers group of companies in September of 2007 as president and CEO of BioMed Valley Discoveries, a for-profit translational R&D organization, whose mission is to develop basic biomedical discoveries into applications to improve human health and in 2008 was named executive vice president of the Stowers Institute. In this role, Chao was responsible for leading six of the Institute’s nine research support facilities.

     Chao’s career has been focused on biomedical research and has included positions as a basic researcher, a management consultant to life science companies and an executive in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Chao holds a Ph.D. in Biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a pre-doctoral fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and an M.A. and B.A. in Biology from Harvard University.

     “The Stowers Institute has achieved remarkable success in its first decade of research operations in Kansas City, and maintaining this momentum with a wise plan for leadership succession is essential,” said Neaves. “Dave Chao has quickly earned the esteem of all who work with him at the Stowers Institute. He demonstrates the integrity, judgment, and scientific insight to lead the Institute to greater success in the next phase of its growth in Kansas City. I am delighted with Dave’s enthusiasm for accepting this responsibility.”

     “Working alongside world-class colleagues in an organization guided by Jim and Virginia’s compelling vision and inspiring values has been an energizing and rewarding experience. I am delighted by the opportunity to serve with Bill in my new role and look forward to leading the Institute into the future,” said Chao.

     “All of us who conduct laboratory research here enthusiastically embraced Bill Neaves’ plan to ensure stability in the leadership team of the Institute by transitioning Dave Chao into his current roles,” said Robb Krumlauf, Ph.D., Scientific Director. “We have the same confidence in Dave that we have in Bill, knowing that Dave will keep the Institute on the extraordinary trajectory of success that has characterized its first decade of research operations in Kansas City.”

     Since Neaves became president and CEO of the Stowers Institute in June 2000, he and Robb Krumlauf have recruited 25 outstanding laboratory leaders and center directors, some of whom left institutions such as Harvard University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to pursue their research at the Stowers Institute. Under Neaves’ leadership, the Institute has grown to near capacity of its 600,000 square-foot facility and assembled a staff of more than 500.

     Prior to joining the Institute, Neaves served in various positions at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, including dean of Southwestern Medical School and executive vice president for academic affairs.

     In his eventual role as president emeritus, Neaves will remain a full-time member of the Institute, serving as a resource for the president and CEO, continuing as a member of the Board of Directors, and undertaking duties and special projects assigned by the chair of the Board. He will serve as the Institute’s liaison with the Scientific Advisory Board, teach the Research Integrity Course for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, expand graduate education at the Institute, and advance the Institute’s interests through writing and public speaking.

About the Stowers Institute for Medical Research
     Housed in a 600,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility on a 10-acre campus in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research is home to 22 independent research teams, three technology centers, nine research support facilities, and more than 400 members who have assembled in Kansas City from across the nation and 20 + countries around the world.

     The Institute's laboratory leaders include recipients of some of the world's most prestigious scientific awards and honors. Among them are: four elected Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; two current and two previous principal investigators appointed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; an American Cancer Society Research Professor; six researchers recognized by the Nature Publishing Group for milestone discoveries in their fields of research; seven March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Scholars; two Pew Scholars; a Searle Scholar; a recipient of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences; a Klingenstein Fellow; and a recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.