NEW YORK— FINN Partners today announced that noted cardiologist and national health policy and affairs voice Richard I. Levin, MD, FACP, FACC, FAHA, joins the Agency as its Chief Health Affairs Counselor. Dr. Levin was most recently President and CEO of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation and is an Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Cardiology at McGill and New York Universities. In this newly created role at FINN, he reports to Gil Bashe, chair, global health and purpose at FINN.
“One of America’s famous health leaders refers to the modern academic health center as ‘the most complex invention of humanity.’ In the era of information, genomics, artificial intelligence, and equity ‘partnerships’ in medicine, you realize how very difficult it is to succeed in this field that consumes 20% of America’s GDP. Optimal care in the US will be reached only by recognizing that science and humanism must be co-equal principles of care, and so it is a great opportunity to join FINN Partners at this moment.”
Before his 11 years at The Gold Foundation, which champions humanism in healthcare, Dr. Levin served as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and inaugural Vice-Principal for Health Affairs at McGill University in Montreal. He was a Professor of Medicine in Cardiology, Director of Cardiology Training, and Vice Dean for Education, Faculty, and Academic Affairs at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health. As a public health advocate, Dr. Levin served two terms as president of the New York City affiliate of the American Heart Association, the organization’s founding office.
“Dr. Richard Levin, who humbly prefers ‘Rich’ when introduced, is among the nation’s top voices for humanism in patient care – the synergistic mixture of scientific excellence, compassion, and collaboration,” said Gil Bashe, chair global health and purpose. “During his tenure at The Gold Foundation, he rallied the government, medical schools, and industry to unite around patient experience and empathy,” he added.
As a life science entrepreneur in the early eighties, while developing his academic career, he co-founded Qmed, Inc. to develop a novel ambulatory device that could detect inadequacies in blood supply to the heart in real time. Leading as vice president and medical director of a publicly traded corporation, he acquired a deep understanding of the complexity of the medical marketplace.
Dr. Levin’s long-standing scientific interests include endothelial cell biology, the prevention of atherothrombotic events, the reformation of academic health centers to support personalized medicine and patient-centered care, and the role of new information technologies in medical education and practice. Dr. Levin has been a member of the editorial board of the FASEB Journal for more than a decade and is currently the Referral Editor.
“In a time of disruption and accelerated change throughout the health ecosystem, having ‘Rich’ aboard will be an advantage for our clients who combine science and humanistic care to achieve optimal health outcomes,” said Fern Lazar, managing partner and Global Health Practice Lead. “I am thrilled to have the breadth of his scientific and clinical experience and health policy expertise connected to FINN,” she added.
