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An Important Message From CEO & President Dr. Magali Haas
Dear Friends, Family and Colleagues,
This month marks the first anniversary of my decision to ask all of our staff to work from home. Looking back on the email announcement is like looking at a time capsule. There was a strong focus on cancelling business travel and maintaining our normal work cadence outside the office setting while following CDC recommendations to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. Most notable in that email is that initially the office shutdown was scheduled for just three weeks with the aim to provide weekly updates as the situation evolves.
 I have not been back to the office since.
The past year has transformed nearly every aspect of our lives as employees and citizens of an interconnected world. Beyond the mundane shift to a life of Zoom calls, mask wearing, and creatively working out at home, we have also witnessed a discussion on mental health at a scale like never before. For the first time, we did not just witness a public health emergency somewhere far away on the other side of the globe, we experienced it—through the lockdown and its concomitant economic, personal and public health stressors—as a single global community. Mental health is now on more of our doorsteps as a result, and the long-term implications of the pervasiveness of diseases such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety will be central in the next phase of this public health emergency.
As an organization committed to advancing personalized medicine solutions for brain trauma, we know that if left unchecked, the mental health consequences as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic will be devastating for years to come. We remain steadfast in our resolve to galvanize the development of platforms, disease models and data analytic pipelines that cut across brain disorders and have the potential to speed solutions for patients when it is needed most. Our work is based upon the guiding principle that brain health is health, and we know that our advances in our flagship disease areas can, and must, be shared across the research ecosystem to move the needle forward in a meaningful way.
In the following newsletter, we invite you to look over our progress across our three pillars of focus: disease research, platform development and wellness and advocacy. We also share highlights of some of our amazing partners, the leadership of our employees, and insights into how CVB is mobilizing to meet future brain health challenges.
We thank you for your continued support of our mission and look forward to working alongside of you towards brighter days ahead.
Magali Haas, MD, PhD
CEO & President
Cohen Veterans Bioscience
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Savannah Slagel
Jordan Laird
