Dr. Allen Mangel, a gastroenterologist with extensive experience in clinical research, has joined RTI Health Solutions (RTI-HS) as Global Head of Medical Services.

"Our business is growing in the areas of drug safety research, patient registries, and nontraditional clinical trials," said Elizabeth Andrews, Vice President, RTI Health Solutions. "As we develop creative designs for these studies and put them in the field, Allen's leadership, clinical knowledge, and experience in clinical research practice are critical to our success.

"Having a physician as an integral part of our team adds substantially to the quality and credibility of our work, helping to round out the multidisciplinary team that is already strong in other areas."

A long-time resident of the Triangle, Dr. Mangel comes to RTI-HS from Salix Pharmaceuticals, where he served at vice president of research and development. Prior to that he was executive director and site head of Regulatory and Technical Services at Quintiles, Inc., and he served in several roles at GlaxoWellcome/GSK in the area of gastroenterology clinical development and research. Dr. Mangel also served as assistant professor of medicine at Duke University's Medical Center.

This experience will be a significant benefit to RTI-HS. Andrews explained, "Allen's broad network of colleagues in clinical research is already bringing us new opportunities, such as a new partnership with the Duke Clinical Research Institute on a very interesting project for a pharmaceutical company. He is well respected by senior-level decision makers at the Food and Drug Administration, academic collaborators, and industry scientists."

Dr. Mangel earned his M.D. from the Georgetown University School of Medicine and his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Illinois. He has published numerous articles in scientific periodicals such as Nature, the American Journal of Physiology, Science, the American Journal of Cardiology, The Lancet, and the American Journal of Gastroenterology.