Steven Mackey
Steven Mackey has been appointed the new executive director of the University of Southern California (USC)-affiliated Health Research Association (HRA) and the executive director for Clinical Research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
Founded in 1947, HRA provides clinical trial support services to USC. As HRA executive director, Mackey will work with principal investigators and chairs, the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Clinical Trials Unit, LAC+USC Medical Center, USC University Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, and pharmaceutical companies.
“The position at USC is a great opportunity,” said Mackey. “USC has an outstanding, diverse patient population, excellent doctors, and great name recognition and facilities. The turnkey service we offer for industry-sponsored clinical research adds a lot of value.”
Mackey’s immediate goals include improved customer service and study startup time. HRA is currently piloting a project with a goal of achieving study startup in only 60 days, compared to current startup times of four to six months. This allows researchers to begin their main work quickly.
Coreen Rodgers, chief operating officer of the Keck School of Medicine, believes Mackey will help establish more transparency and accountability for HRA, allowing clinical research at USC to expand across many more departments and investigators than it currently serves. “The end result will be an added reason for patients to come to USC,” she says. “They can participate in clinical trials they cannot get elsewhere.”
Prior to coming to USC, Mackey served as director of research policy and strategic planning for the University of Miami. Mackey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Maryland, College Park.