SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 16, 2026--
VedaBio, a pioneering biotechnology company transforming molecular detection, today announced the appointment of Valerie Dixon, Chief Financial Officer of Cleveland Diagnostics, as the first independent member of its Board of Directors. Dixon brings two decades of experience advising healthcare and life sciences companies, executives and boards on strategic and financial matters, including mergers and acquisitions, and various financings.
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“We welcome Valerie to VedaBio’s Board of Directors at this pivotal time,” said Frédéric Sweeney, PhD, President and CEO of VedaBio. “Her deep understanding of healthcare finance, capital strategy and strategic transactions brings a crucial and highly complementary perspective to our board, at the right time. As VedaBio advances its target amplification-free CRISPR-based molecular diagnostic for urgent care settings, Valerie will be an invaluable thought partner as we evaluate strategic financing and transaction opportunities and move toward commercialization.”
Dixon previously served as Senior Partner at Flagship Pioneering, where she helped Flagship’s portfolio companies assess financing needs and optimize external capital raising. She spent the majority of her career at Morgan Stanley, where she was Managing Director and Global Head of Life Sciences Tools and Diagnostics in the firm's Healthcare Investment Banking Group. In that role, she served as a trusted advisor to global corporations on all aspects of strategy and corporate finance, leading engagements across mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financings, and capital markets strategy.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Dixon held similar roles at J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Lehman Brothers, including as a sell-side research analyst covering the emerging medical technology, life sciences tools and diagnostics sectors. She serves on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera and the National Kidney Foundation. Dixon earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard University.
“I am thrilled to join VedaBio at such a pivotal moment in its growth," said Dixon. "Across my years advising companies in the life sciences tools and diagnostics space, VedaBio's product-centric approach stands out as a genuine differentiator. This is a team that understands its market and is building exactly the right product to bring comprehensive testing to decentralized settings. Delivering rapid, accurate results in urgent care has the potential to transform how clinicians diagnose and treat patients. I look forward to partnering closely with Fred and the board as we move toward commercialization.”
About VedaBio
VedaBio is building first-in-class diagnostic products designed to deliver rapid, accurate, and accessible testing in decentralized and point-of-need settings. Powered by the company’s CRISPR platform, which is designed to detect targets without the amplification step required by conventional methods, these products represent the next generation of molecular diagnostics, built to bring uncompromising high medical value to the decentralized setting. VedaBio is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, visit www.vedabio.com.
Valerie Dixon Appointed to VedaBio Board of Directors
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Nicole Saphier, President Donald Trump's third nominee to serve as surgeon general, will face lawmakers at her confirmation hearing Wednesday in the latest attempt to fill the post known as the nation's doctor.
Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News Channel contributor, is Trump's newest pick after entrepreneur and wellness influencer Dr. Casey Means saw her path forward stall in the Senate over her background and vaccine views. Trump withdrew his first nominee, Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat, after questions arose about her academic credentials. The position has been vacant throughout Trump's second term.
Saphier will face questions from the Senate health committee for a position that carries limited policymaking power but a loud megaphone as the nation's top communicator with Americans on public health issues.
While senators may scrutinize her credentials and background, Saphier will also be in the difficult position of navigating Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s more contentious policies, including his efforts to scale back vaccine guidance at a time when the U.S. is enduring its worst year for measles in decades. Lawmakers of both parties have criticized Kennedy's stances and are likely to grill Saphier over whether she'll more fiercely advocate vaccination if confirmed.
Saphier is director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth, according to her profile on the New York-based institution’s website. She has a doctor of medicine degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados along with fellowships at the Mayo Clinic, the profile said.
Like Means, who is a close Kennedy ally, Saphier has questioned whether every child needs to get the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, a longtime recommendation that the Trump administration has been trying to weaken. Saphier has, however, disagreed with Trump and Kennedy on some issues, telling The Associated Press last fall that Trump's cautions to pregnant women who take Tylenol were oversimplistic and “patronizing.”
Her latest ethics filing, dated Sept. 7, shows holdings with various healthcare and insurance firms, as well as processed food companies, like Coca-Cola, Yum Brands, the Hershey Co. and cigarette maker Philip Morris.
Before entering politics and throughout his tenure at the health department, Kennedy has criticized big pharmaceutical companies and insurance firms for alleged corruption and decried ultraprocessed foods as contributing to a nationwide chronic disease crisis.
Additionally, Saphier owns DropRx, a firm that produces controversial, unregulated tinctures — concentrated liquid extracts promoting focus and calm — that contain ingredients, including kava kava root, described by the FDA as potentially causing severe liver injury.
Her filing says she will resign from her position with DropRx and Empower MD LLC, which owns DropRx, if she is confirmed.
She states in the document that she would partially or fully divest from holdings that would present a conflict to serving as surgeon general.
Also facing lawmakers' questions Wednesday is Chris Klomp, chief counselor of the Health and Human Services Department, who has been nominated to serve as Kennedy's second-in-command. Also at the hearing will be Timothy Westlake, chief of staff at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, who is seeking confirmation to be assistant secretary for mental health and substance use.
The U.S. Capitol is seen from the Washington Monument, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
