FLICKR, Montgomery County Planning CommissionThe head genetics researcher at Pfizer Corporation’s San Francisco office, David Cox, died unexpectedly, the company announced this week (January 22). He was 66 years old. Cox, a senior vice president who joined in the multinational pharmaceutical company in 2008, was considered a visionary leader in drug development and biotech innovations.
“David Cox was a world-renowned geneticist and a highly valued leader here at Pfizer,” a Pfizer spokeswoman said in a statement, reported by Forbes. “As the company’s lead geneticist based at our Rinat facility in San Francisco, David was a driving force in shaping Pfizer’s strategy on Precision Medicine, as well as our vision for the future of biomedical innovation. Our thoughts and sympathies are with David’s family during this difficult time, and he will be truly missed.”
Before joining Pfizer, Cox trained as a pediatrician and became professor of genetics and pediatrics at Stanford University as well as the co-director of the Stanford Genome Center. After being involved in the project to sequence the human genome, he went on to co-found and become the ...