- < Back to Board of Directors

Alison Taunton-Rigby, Ph.D., OBE

Board Member

Alison Taunton-Rigby, Ph.D., O.B.E., has been President and Chief Executive Officer, of several public and private companies in the life science and healthcare industries.   She currently serves as a Director on a number of public, private, non-profit, ESOP and mutual fund boards.

Dr. Taunton-Rigby was Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of RiboNovix, Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer of Aquila Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a public life sciences company, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Biotech Corporation, where she led the turn-around, re-structuring and emergence from bankruptcy.  In addition, she has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Mitotix Inc., and was Senior Vice President, Biotherapeutics, at Genzyme Corporation, where she had overall responsibility for Genzyme's biotherapeutics division.  Dr. Taunton-Rigby has also served in senior management positions at Vivotech Inc., Biogen, Inc. and Collaborative Research, Inc.

Dr. Taunton-Rigby received her doctorate from the University of Bristol in England, and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School. She is a Director of Columbia RiverSource Funds, Healthways, Inc., Abt Associates, Inc., ICI Mutual Insurance Company, the Children's Hospital Boston, the National Association of Corporate Directors NE, and the Massachusetts Women's Forum.  She is also a member of the Business Advisory Council, Simmons College, School of Management, an Advisor to Civic Capital LLC, a Director of the Biomedical Science Careers Program, and a former Director and Chair of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC), and of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).  In 2005 she was appointed to the Massachusetts Biomedical Research Advisory Committee (stem cell research) and in 2008 to the Scientific Advisory Board, Massachusetts Life Science Center.  In 2002 Dr. Taunton-Rigby was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for her work as a leader in the research, development and promotion of biotechnology. In 2009 she was awarded an honorary D.Sc. by the University of Bristol, UK.