Lynn D. Hudson, PhD
Dr. Lynn Hudson serves as the Chief Science Officer for Critical Path Institute and Executive Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Outcome Assessments Consortium. She received a bachelor of science degree in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, a doctorate in Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Minnesota, and post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Brown University. Combining science and policy, Dr. Hudson conducted research in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) intramural program and directed the Office of Science Policy Analysis at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2006-2011. As a major source for policy analysis within NIH’s Office of the Director, her office covered a wide spectrum of sensitive and emerging issues and oversaw a number of programs, including the AAAS/NIH Science Policy Fellowship program, NIH’s contract with the National Academy of Sciences, and the Public-Private Partnership Program. Her policy team’s awards cite contributions to NIH’s Congressional Justification, Biennial Report, implementation of the NIH Reform Act, Stem Cell Guidelines, and Comparative Effectiveness Research.
As Chief of the Section of Developmental Genetics, Dr. Hudson received the NIH Merit Award for her discovery of the causative mutations in the neurologic disorder Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), and an NINDS Award for educational outreach efforts. Dr. Hudson’s research focused on defining the network of genes involved in the development of glial cells, with the goal of designing strategies to overcome glial dysfunction in inherited or acquired neurological diseases. She served as an officer for the American Society for Neurochemistry, an officer on the scientific advisory board of the PMD Foundation, and as an advisor for a number of granting agencies and disease foundations, including the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Presently Dr. Hudson serves on the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation. She is also a board member of BIOSA, the BioIndustry Organization of Southern Arizona.
