NMDP Hires New Leaders to Executive Team to Continue Advancing Five-Year Strategic Plan

New Chief Financial and Chief Information Officers to Extend Global Cell Therapy Nonprofit’s Operational Excellence in its Quest to Find More Cures and Save More Lives

NMDP^SM, a global nonprofit leader in cell therapy, announced today it hired two new executives – Katherine Heyerdahl as chief financial officer (CFO) and Jim Graham as chief information officer (CIO) – to its executive team, where they will play pivotal roles in driving the organization’s mission-critical operational strategy. Heyerdahl and Graham are filling existing executive leadership roles.

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Katherine Heyerdahl, chief financial officer, NMDP (Photo: Business Wire)

“We have an ambitious, bold vision to accelerate our global impact in the next five years and impact 10,000 lives annually via life-saving stem cell therapy,” said Amy Ronneberg, CEO of NMDP. “Ensuring every patient with blood cancers and disorders has access to the life-saving cell therapy they deserve requires a proven leadership team relentlessly focused on operational excellence and execution.”

Graham will join the organization on July 8 and will lead all aspects of information technology, including modernizing and scaling platforms and maintaining system security, automation and operational efficiencies. Most recently, he spent 11 years at Prime Therapeutics, a Twin Cities-based pharmacy benefit management company. As CIO, he led a multi-year initiative to modernize and scale technology platforms during a new operating model implementation, which helped improve speed-to-market, state-of-the-art automation, and access to information. Before Prime, Graham spent over a decade in executive IT roles at Voya Financial, formerly ING.

Heyerdahl joined NMDP April 22, spearheading the organization’s financial sustainability – one of NMDP’s key operating metrics – as well as on pricing for its products and services. She most recently served as chief strategy officer for the Individual and Family Plans business at UnitedHealth Group (UHG), where she delivered on a new market expansion strategy, long-term business plan and capital portfolio for UHG’s Healthcare Exchange business. Previously, she held various leadership roles within the Optum segment of UHG, The Travelers Companies and Deloitte & Touche.

“Katherine and Jim are stepping into critical roles, with NMDP at the precipice of unparalleled growth. They not only bring deep healthcare expertise to our bench of talent, they are also respected as mission-driven, operational leaders and experienced stewards of the resources needed to advance cell therapy research, deliver best-in-class service and expand equitable access to life-saving cell therapy,” Ronneberg added. “We’re thrilled they are joining us to help find more cures and save more lives.”

About NMDP^SM

At NMDP^SM, we believe each of us holds the key to curing blood cancers and disorders. As a global nonprofit leader in cell therapy, NMDP creates essential connections between researchers and supporters to inspire action and accelerate innovation to find life-saving cures. With the help of blood stem cell donors from the world’s most diverse registry and our extensive network of transplant partners, physicians and caregivers, we’re expanding access to treatment so that every patient can receive their life-saving cell therapy. NMDP. Find cures. Save lives. Learn more at nmdp.org.

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