Teresa L Wright, MD, FAASLD

Biography

Teresa (Terry) Wright is currently Vice President and Clinical Research Head for Hepatology at GSK with responsibility for oversight of clinical development of investigational agents for patients with viral, metabolic and autoimmune liver diseases.
Terry started her hepatology training while a medical resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital under the watchful eyes of Willis Maddrey (past-president of AASLD) and Mack Mitchell, followed by gastroenterology/hepatology fellowship at UCSF where Rudi Schmid and Tom Boyer (both past presidents of AASLD) were mentors. At UCSF, Terry helped start the liver transplant program led by Nancy Ascher and Jack Lake and was immediately drawn to solving clinical problems by going to the lab (bedside to bench). At that time, viral hepatitis was a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing liver transplantation. In close collaboration with colleagues at UCSF including Norah Terrault (current past president of the AASLD), Marina Berenguer (past president of ILTS) and Mario Pessoa (current president-elect of ALEH), Terry defined the clinical and molecular natural history of viral hepatitis in the transplant setting, making contributions to the treatment of hepatitis B in these patients. Based primarily at the UCSF-affiliated Veterans Administration hospital in San Francisco, Terry contributed to advancing the care of veterans with hepatitis C and served as the first woman president of AASLD in 2005.
Always excited about taking on new challenges, in 2006 Terry joined Roche Molecular diagnostics where, as Chief Medical Officer, she conducted a large population-based screening program for cervical cancer with Human Papillomavirus DNA. Wanting to gain more experience in drug development she then spent six years at Genentech, responsible for designing trials for the treatment of hepatitis C and other causes of liver disease. After two years consulting Terry joined GSK in her current role.
Terry's greatest joy professionally comes from the many wonderful people who have mentored her, and in turn the very special people she has had the opportunity to mentor. Her greatest joy personally comes from her husband Fred, their three adult children, their partners and her grand daughter. Terry is one of five girls, all professionals, growing up in a family with high expectations set by her parents, without boundaries as to what their daughters could achieve. She feels very privileged to have been able to have a rewarding professional career, while always prioritizing her family and friends.