Evansville company names Harvard professor to executive team
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A Harvard Medical School professor who leads the pediatric nutrition department at Massachusetts General Hospital has been appointed the chief science and medical officer at Mead Johnson Nutrition.
Alessio Fasano will lead science efforts and innovation for the Evansville-based infant-formula maker in the newly created position, according to parent company Reckitt.
“Mead Johnson was built on a foundation of science-based nutrition nearly 120 years ago, so we’re honored to have a medical scientist of Alessio Fasano’s caliber steering our scientific integrity and advancements,” Mead Johnson Nutrition President Susan Sholtis said in a news release. “Under Dr. Fasano’s leadership, we will continue our journey of providing trusted nutrition products to families all over the world.”
Fasano is a pediatrics professor at Harvard Medical School and a professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He also is the chief of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and the director of its Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center.
An author of more than 450 peer-reviewed papers who has filed more than 160 patent applications, he is considered an expert in celiac disease, the gut microbiome, and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, the company said.
At Mead Johnson Nutrition, he will manage the science program for a $3.2 billion brand that includes Enfamil and Nutramigen infant formula products. In the new role, he will help develop nutrition products for people of all ages.
“I am humbly honored and extremely excited to join Mead Johnson Nutrition to contribute to bringing the best nutritional science to clinical fruition for the most vulnerable populations, including infants, children and the elderly population,” Fasano said in the release. “By continuing in my academic roles as professor of pediatrics and professor of nutrition, I will act as a bridge between academia and industry as we pursue crucial partnerships to bring superb science to medical fruition.”
Reckitt, based in England, is a global maker of hygiene, health and nutrition products. Its other brands include Air Wick, Calgon, Clearasil, Lysol, Mucinex, Vanish and Woolite.
The company this year has been mired in litigation over whether one of its formulas was harmful to children.
