Paul A. Bleicher, M.D., Ph.D.
Chairman and Founder
Paul A. Bleicher, M.D., Ph.D., serves as Chairman and Founder of Phase Forward, which he helped grow from initial concept to its position as a leading provider of clinical trial data management and drug safety software. His vision continues to guide Phase Forward into new areas that serve the clinical data needs of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries.
Dr. Bleicher earned his B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and his M.D. and Ph.D., specializing in cellular immunology, from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He trained in Internal Medicine at the Beth Israel Hospital and in dermatology at Harvard Medical School/ Massachusetts General Hospital. He did a post-doctoral fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in molecular biology, and began his career as a physician/investigator at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Prior to Phase Forward, Dr. Bleicher served as Vice President of Clinical Affairs for Alpha-Beta Technology, where he was responsible for Phase I through III clinical development of a novel carbohydrate drug. He previously worked at PAREXEL International, where he created and headed the Early Phase Services Department, assisting pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with the initial development of novel therapies.
Dr. Bleicher speaks and writes extensively about the role of technology and electronic data capture in the pharmaceutical industry. In 1995, he chaired the first conference ever held in the pharmaceutical industry on the use of the Internet in drug development. Dr. Bleicher writes a regular column on technology in Applied Clinical Trials, and serves on the editorial boards of Applied Clinical Trials, Drug Information Journal, and Research Practitioner. He has served on the DIA Board of Directors and on the Steering Committee of North America, which he has also chaired, and he continues to be very active in the DIA.
Dr. Bleicher is a member of the Dean's Advisory Council, School of Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2002, Dr. Bleicher won the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in New England and was appointed to the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur's Hall of Fame. In 2005, he was recognized by PharmaVoice as one of the 100 most inspiring people in the life sciences industry, and in 2006 he was awarded Boston Business Journal’s prestigious Champions in Health Care award. In 2007, he joined the Massachusetts Life Sciences Organizing Committee.
Dr. Bleicher holds several issued patents in the U.S. and worldwide for a stem cell mobilizing biologic and for software design.