For Immediate Release
August 10, 2007
Contact: Laura Buffum
732-751-7537
lbuffum@meridianhealth.com

MERIDIAN HEALTH WELCOMES ERNEST RICHARDS, PH.D., TO CLINICAL RESEARCH LEADERSHIP POSITION

Neptune, NJ - Meridian Health is pleased to announce the appointment of Ernest W. Richards, Ph.D., FACN to the position of corporate director of the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB is comprised of physician and research leaders who monitor and review clinical research and academic activities at Meridian Health, which includes Jersey Shore University Medical Center and K. Hovnanian Children?s Hospital in Neptune, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, and Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank.

Dr. Richards joins Meridian Health from PRA International in Eatontown, where he most recently served as vice president of Clinical Operations. He previously held clinical positions at Abbott Laboratories, Baptist Medical Centers, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

?We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Richards to Meridian as he brings over 20 years of progressive expertise in clinical trial design and management,? says David S. Kountz, M.D., senior vice president of Medical and Academic Affairs at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. ?His knowledge and skill will further enhance our research and academic initiatives.?

Meridian currently has more than 160 active clinical trials and research studies with its research partners: the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Fox Chase Cancer Center, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. Home to the region?s only university-level academic medical center and three highly regarded cancer centers, Meridian is rapidly expanding its investigational and research studies that examine new clinical practices and clinical trials that evaluate new therapies.

?I am very excited to join Meridian, which in addition to being the largest health care provider in the region, is home to leading clinical research and academic programs,? said Dr. Richards. ?I look forward to working with Meridian?s physicians and clinical researchers to ensure the research activities performed at Meridian continue to be performed at the best possible standard.?

As corporate director of IRB, Dr. Richards will oversee regulatory and compliance operations of Meridian?s research efforts, and will assist in the design and delivery of educational programs for clinical research coordinators, principle Investigators and research staff throughout Meridian. Dr. Richards will also provide regulatory, ethical, and methodological guidance to individual faculty, staff, and students for research proposals involving human subjects.

?Medical research is critically important to the continued development of new medicines, techniques, and clinical practices, but it is also a highly complex process? says Dr. Kountz. ?Meridian participation in such research activities shapes the way medicine will be practiced in the future.?

Dr. Richards earned his bachelor of arts and doctorate degrees from Rutgers University. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition.

About Meridian Health
Meridian Health is a family of not-for-profit health care organizations comprising Jersey Shore University Medical Center and K. Hovnanian Children?s Hospital in Neptune, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Meridian Partner Companies that include home care agencies, long-term and assisted living communities, ambulatory care, ambulance services, and occupational health located throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties. Meridian Health was the first health care organization in the nation to achieve the prestigious Magnet designation for its nursing staff at each of its partner hospitals and has been named one of the best places to work in New Jersey for two consecutive years. For more information, please call the Meridian Health Line at 1-800-560-9990 or visit us on the web at www.meridianhealth.com.

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