Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center Hires New Chief Operating Officer
Doylestown, PA (PRWEB) December 16, 2014 -- The Hepatitis B Foundation (http://www.hepb.org) is pleased to announce that Louis P. Kassa III has been hired as the Chief Operating Officer of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center and its nonprofit research entities.
Formerly the chief operating officer of a national behavioral health organization, Kassa will oversee daily operations at the Pennsylvania Biotech Center, which is home to the Hepatitis B Foundation and its research entity, the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute.
“I'm pleased to be able to bring my management skills to support these entities dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B,” said Kassa. “Working closely with such accomplished scientists is exciting, and together, I know we can make significant progress in the fight against this global, yet silent epidemic.”
Founded in 1991, the Hepatitis B Foundation is the only national nonprofit organization solely dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B and improving the lives of those affected worldwide through research, education and patient advocacy. The foundation partnered with Delaware Valley College to create the Pennsylvania Biotech Center, an 110,000-square-foot facility in Doylestown, Pa., which opened in 2006. The foundation established the newly renamed Blumberg Institute in 2003 as an independent, nonprofit research facility to fulfill its research mission.
Kassa will take the reins of all three entities, overseeing finance, staffing and daily operations. The hiring comes at an exciting time for the three closely related organizations, which are at the forefront of a renewed interest in finding new treatment therapies for hepatitis B.
“It’s an exciting time to be in the field of hepatitis B research, and we are pleased that an executive of Lou Kassa’s qualifications and experience has joined our team,” said Dr. Timothy Block, President of the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Biotech Center. “We are impressed by Lou’s extensive track record of success and by his level of personal involvement in the community. I don’t think we could have custom ordered a more suitable COO to help lead our future growth and expansion.”
Kassa comes to the foundation from the national behavioral health organization VisionQuest, where he managed fiscal, personnel, program development, and public relations functions while supervising numerous programs across five states.
Prior to VisionQuest, Kassa spent 14 years at the Pennsylvania-based Youth Services Agency, a nonprofit organization that provides services for at-risk youth in the juvenile justice systems of the Mid-Atlantic region.
A graduate of Penn State University, Kassa went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Villanova University in 2007. A Bucks County native, Kassa grew up in Quakertown and now lives in Perkasie, Pa. with his wife and three daughters.
About the Hepatitis B Foundation: Headquartered in Doylestown, Pa., the Hepatitis B Foundation is the only national nonprofit organization solely dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B and improving the quality of life for those affected worldwide through research, education and patient advocacy.
About the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute: The Baruch S. Blumberg Institute was established in 2003 by the Hepatitis B Foundation to conduct discovery research and nurture translational biotechnology in an environment conducive to interaction, collaboration and focus. The independent, nonprofit research center was renamed in 2013 to honor the man who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the hepatitis B virus.
About the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center: The Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center of Bucks County offers state-of-the-art laboratory and office space to nonprofit research companies and biotech companies. Created by a partnership between the Hepatitis B Foundation and Delaware Valley College, the Center was funded in part by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The facility opened in 2006 in a formerly abandoned warehouse and has since grown to encompass 110,000 square feet.
Sarah Larson, Furia Rubel Communications, Inc., http://www.furiarubel.com, +1 (215) 340-0480, [email protected]
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