WesternU appointed Andrea Giuffrida, PhD, MBA, as the Senior Vice President of Research & Biotechnology.
Dr. Giuffrida brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this critical position. Most recently, he served as Vice President for Strategic Industry Ventures at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) where he led the Office of Technology Commercialization, the TechNovum bioscience accelerator, and focused on growing their academic research enterprise by promoting scholarship, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Dr. Giuffrida received his PhD from the University of Catania in Italy in 1992 and earned his Executive MBA at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) in 2022. Dr. Giuffrida has held numerous leadership positions throughout his career. After joining UTHSCSA and being promoted to Full Professor of pharmacology with tenure, he served as Director of Biomedical Research Development, Vice President for Research and Vice President for Strategic Industry Ventures. He also served on boards of several not-for-profit organizations and startup companies and coordinated successful fundraising that led to the creation of new research centers and the first biobank at UTHSCSA.
He is also President of the Texas Scientific Italian Community a center that together
Miami Scientific Italian Community and California Scientific Italian Community
support Italian Universities, Research Centers and Italian SMEs on projects of Bilateral Cooperation, Multilateral Cooperation and EU Activities in the United States
Dr. Giuffrida, plans to build research capacity at WesternU through investments in research infrastructure and training programs, creating centers of excellence in biosciences and biotechnologies, growing clinical research, and promoting private/public partnerships aligned with emerging national and international research priorities. He also plans to work closely with leaders across the University to assess existing institutional policies, develop a research space master plan and identify future needs to drive innovation. “At the end of the day, it’s all about building a winning culture, a culture that is research friendly and that fosters open dialogue, diversity and transparency,” Giuffrida said. “My four core values are: listen, connect, execute and celebrate success!”
