Faculty Professor - Translational Neuroscience

MRIGlobal appoints Shannon Toma as Chief Operating Officer. Will lead operations to drive execution, efficiency, and organizational impact. Kansas City, Mo. (June 29, 2026) - MRIGlobal today announced the appointment of Shannon Toma as Chief Operating Officer, effective June 29. In this role, she will lead enterprise operations, ensuring alignment across the organization to strengthen strategic execution, operational efficiency, and organizational growth and impact in support of MRIGlobal's mission. Her leadership will further enable MRIGlobal to scale its impact across global health and national security sectors. "Shannon brings a proven ability to lead complex organizations and deliver results. We believe that she will empower employees and foster their growth, while creating an environment where scientists thrive and drive business development," said Ian Colrain, Ph.D., President & CEO, MRIGlobal. "As we continue to grow and expand our impact, I'm confident that her leadership will strengthen MRIGlobal and help us operate with the speed, discipline, and excellence our customers expect." Toma joins MRIGlobal from Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute, where she served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. In that role, she held enterprise accountability for operations, profit and loss, infrastructure, business development, and program delivery across regulated applied research portfolios. During her tenure at Lovelace, Toma played a key role in diversifying the organization's business portfolio, establishing its first dedicated business development function, and significantly increasing commercial revenue while reducing reliance on government funding. She also led long-term infrastructure modernization initiatives for their facilities and served as a primary executive interface for senior officials across a range of federal agencies. "I'm excited to join MRIGlobal at such a pivotal time. The organization's mission, talent, and capabilities are exceptional," said Toma. "I look forward to working alongside the team to strengthen operations, enhance collaboration, and deliver meaningful impact for our clients and partners. The work MRIGlobal performs is critical to solving complex challenges in global health and national security, improving people's lives around the world." Earlier in her career, Toma held leadership and financial roles at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Computer Sciences Corporation, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, and Kyocera Wireless. She brings more than 20 years of experience spanning not-for-profit research and commercial sectors. Toma holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Connecticut and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA), and the Association of Independent Research Institutes (AIRI). About MRIGlobal MRIGlobal is an independent, nonprofit research institute that delivers scientific and engineering solutions to improve lives, protect national security, and advance global health. Since 1943, MRIGlobal has performed customized research and development for government and commercial partners, including advanced diagnostics, chemical and biological threat detection and mitigation, engineering services, and mobile laboratory and transport solutions.

Preclinical CRO Lovelace Biomedical names Dr. Andrew Alexander Senior Director of Preclinical Toxicology. [Albuquerque, N.M. - 2/5/2026] - Lovelace Biomedical, a not-for-profit preclinical contract research organization (CRO) that helps pharma, biotech, and federal partners generate the early-stage data required to advance therapies toward clinical testing, has appointed Andrew Alexander, DVM, PhD, MBA, DABT, Senior Director of Preclinical Toxicology. In this role, he will focus on operations and scientific rigor across Lovelace's preclinical research programs. Dr. Alexander brings more than 30 years of experience in academic research and CROs, with a career centered on building efficient, scalable preclinical operations that deliver high-quality science on predictable timelines. His background spans exploratory, non-GLP, and GLP studies across a wide range of therapeutic modalities, species, and delivery routes. As Senior Director, Alexander will work closely with study directors, operations, and leadership teams to optimize study design workflows, streamline proposal, quoting, and reporting processes, and support the expansion of new service lines and preclinical research models. "CROs play a critical role in helping sponsors meet regulatory and development milestones, and execution matters," said Dr. Alexander. "My focus at Lovelace is on streamlining operational efficiencies, strengthening transparency and communication, and making sure we deliver high-quality science on the timelines our sponsors depend on." Prior to joining Lovelace, he held senior leadership roles at Covance (now Labcorp) and Inotiv, overseeing preclinical toxicology, pharmacology, surgical and medical device safety programs. His experience includes study direction, leadership of large multidisciplinary teams, site leadership, full P&L responsibility, capital expansion projects, regulatory inspections, and direct collaboration with sponsors, regulators, and internal scientific staff. He has worked with organizations ranging from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 life science companies. Dr. Alexander holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, a PhD in Biomedical Science, and an MBA, all from the University of Wisconsin, and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT). Lovelace Biomedical is a not-for-profit preclinical CRO that helps pharma, biotech, and federal partners generate the critical safety, PK/TK, pharmacology, and efficacy data required to advance therapies toward clinical testing. With a science-first ethos, deep multidisciplinary expertise, and a secure, centralized high-containment research campus, Lovelace Biomedical deliver rigorous, customized studies for programs ranging from gene therapy to infectious disease and medical countermeasures.