By Maria Saporta

The founding CEO of the Center for Global Health Innovation (CGHI) – Maria Thacker-Goethe – is stepping down from that leadership role for personal and family reasons.

Thacker-Goethe, however, will remain with the organization as leader of the Office of Life Sciences and Digital Health, formerly Georgia Bio.

When Thacker-Goethe was named CEO of the CGHI in February 2020, she had been heading up Georgia Bio – a position she continued in her Global Health role. Basically, she had been doing both jobs, and now she will resume just having the life sciences (Georgia Bio) role.

Maria Thacker Goethe

“On behalf of the board, I would like to express our gratitude to Maria and her many contributions to the Center and the community we serve,” said Gary Reedy, CGHI board chair, in a statement. “The Center is fortunate to have had such a visionary leader to build and steward a world-class organization. She has created a truly remarkable legacy and has positioned us to continue achieving our mission of advancing global health equity through collaboration and health innovation.”

The CGHI board also has announced that it has appointed Kelly McCutchen as interim chief operating officer to lead the organization through this period of transition. The release also stated that Thacker-Goethe’s leadership transition is not related to any disagreement with the organization on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies, or practices.

“It has been an extraordinary honor to work with the many talented individuals in the health innovation community while making a longtime dream for Georgia become reality with the Center,” Thacker-Goethe said in the release. “I am enormously proud of the organization we are today, of the talented and dedicated team that made it happen, and the impact we have had at home in Georgia and across the country.”

She went on to say: “the Center is at a critical inflection point, and it is time…