Ralph Snyderman

Ralph Snyderman, M.D., is Chancellor Emeritus at Duke University and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine. He served as Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine from 1989 to July 2004. During this period, he oversaw the development of the Duke University Health System, one of the most successful integrated academic health systems in the country and served as its first President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Snyderman has been widely recognized for his contributions to the development of more rational, effective and compassionate models of health care. He led the development of Prospective Health Care, a model of personalized care based on personalized health planning. He was also a prominent researcher in the field of inflammation and has won many awards for his work on leukocyte chemotaxis.

Dr. Snyderman is also the founder and chairman of Proventys, Inc., a healthcare technology company that develops risk assessment and clinical decision support tools to support personalized medicine and was a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates, based in Menlo Park, California.

Dr. Snyderman played a leadership role in the Association of American Physicians, and the Association of American Medical Colleges. He served as chair of the AAMC in 2001-2002 and president of the Association of American Physicians in 2003-2004. In February 2009, he chaired the Institute of Medicine’s Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public, which focused on strategies for effective health care reform that puts the patient at the center of care.

In 1987, Dr. Snyderman left Duke to join Genentech, Inc., a biomedical technology firm in San Francisco, CA, as vice president for medical research and development. A year later he was promoted to senior vice president. While at Genentech, he led the development and licensing of several novel therapeutics and supervised 300 staff members working in pharmacology, clinical research and regulatory affairs.

Snyderman has been the recipient of many honors and awards. In 2003, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor presented to outstanding Americans who have distinguished themselves among their specific ethnic groups and have made significant countributions to our country. He was awarded the first Bravewell Leadership Award for outstanding achievements in the field of integrative medicine in 2003. Dr. Snyderman received the 2007 Leadership in Personalized Medicine Award from the Personalized Medicine Coalition for his efforts in advancing predictive and targeted therapies on a national scale. In May 2008, he received the prestigious Industrial Research Institute (IRI) Medal for his outstanding accomplishments in technological innovations that contribute to the development of industry and to the benefit of society. In November 2008, Dr. Snyderman was awarded Frost & Sullivan’s 2008 North American HealthCare Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering spirit and contributions to medicine. And, in March 2009, he received the Triangle Business Journal’s Healthcare Lifetime Achievement Award. In February 2010, Procter & Gamble named Dr. Snyderman an honorary member of the Victor Mills Society for his leadership and impact on innovation. He was awarded the Clinical Research Forum’s 2010 Leadership in Academic Health Centers award. Dr. Snyderman was recognized as a Bioscience Leader Emeriti by the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research in 2010 honoring North Carolina research leaders for their outstanding leadership in research and development and in the transformation of the state through scientific discovery and innovation.

A graduate of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, Dr. Snyderman received his MD, magna cum laude, in 1965 from SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He served his internship and residency in medicine at Duke and later worked as a Public Health Officer doing research in immunology at the NIH. Dr. Snyderman has contributed to almost 400 scientific manuscripts.

Board Memberships

Crescendo Bioscience
Liquidia Technologies
National Health Museum
Targacept, Inc.
Trevena, Inc.
Washington College Board of Visitors and Governors
XDx, Inc.

Scientific Societies

American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences
Association of American Physicians
American Society for Clinical Investigation
American Association of Medical Colleges