Gang Zheng,
MD, Ph.D

Dr. David S. Perlin is a highly accomplished biomedical researcher and chief executive who is well recognized for his innovative and entrepreneurial leadership in the biomedical sciences. He is the inaugural Chief Scientific Officer and EVP for the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI), which seeks to rapidly translate innovations in science to improve outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune, and other acute and chronic disorders. Under his leadership, CDI has grown in less than five years to 36 laboratories with more than 210 scientists and support staff funded by 165 grants and contracts including 78 NIH grants. Prior to joining CDI, he served for 13 years as Executive Director of the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and was Director of the Rutgers Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, an NIH designated national center for the study of highly transmissible pathogens.

Dr. Perlin has been engaged for >30 years in developing molecular insights and technologies to detect, combat and prevent deadly infections. He has been awarded numerous NIH grants accounting for nearly $250 million research funding. He is an expert in drug discovery and drug resistance mechanisms, and he has helped develop novel therapeutics and diagnostics against high-threat bacteria, viruses, and fungi. He has published more than 360 papers and book chapters and has co-authored two books. He has served on numerous advisory boards for academia, foundations, and industry including the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (ADARC) and the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI); he is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Fungi.

His laboratory is supported by multiple grants from the NIH, Pharma and biopharma sectors, and the NIH has continuously funded him for 30+ years. He is an expert in elucidating antifungal drug resistance mechanisms and developing strategies to better diagnose and overcome drug resistance.
He has served on numerous advisory boards for Pharma and Biotech to develop FDA approved drugs and diagnostics. Currently, he leads an NIH-designated national Center of Excellence in Translational Research (CETR) to discover novel anti-infectives against drug resistant bacterial infections. He also co-leads with Rockefeller University Nobel Laureate Dr. Charles Rice the Metropolitan Antiviral Drug Accelerator (MAVDA), one of nine national centers under the NIH AViDD program to develop novel small molecule antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 and other pandemic viruses.

Dr. Perlin was honored with a “Medical Technology Pioneer Health Care Heroes” award for COVID-19 response. He was named by RO1 a top 10 influencer in healthcare in New Jersey in 2019 and 2020; an Outstanding Scientist in New Jersey by the Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Awards in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, he was named a top 25 National Innovator by Modern Healthcare and in 2022 a top 25 Notable Health Care Leader by Crain’s New York Business. He received the 2023 Dr. Sol J. Barer Award for Vision Innovation and Leadership and was selected by ROI a top 25 healthcare influencer in 2024.

Dr. Perlin received a PhD from Cornell University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale University School of Medicine and University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (ASM), the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).