DIA Names Heej Ko Head of Strategic Partnerships
Position to Drive Strategic Solution Planning, Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement
DIA, the premier professional community for global health care product development, announced today Heej Ko will serve as its new Head of Strategic Partnerships. To strengthen DIA’s organization globally, Ko will focus on nurturing partnerships between DIA and its existing partners, exploring new strategic partnerships while leading solution planning initiatives to ensure short- and long-term success. This appointment reinforces DIA’s focus on thought leadership and operational efficiency and comes as a natural step as DIA is defining its strategic roadmap for the coming years.
Ko joins DIA from Informa where she was the Managing Director, Life Sciences, Knowledge and Networking Division responsible for driving the growth and launch strategy for its multi-million dollar conference and exhibition portfolio. Prior to her tenure at Informa, Ko served nine year at Windhover Information, which was acquired by Reed Elsevier in 2008, as the company’s conference division director. Over the past 20 years as a learning and development conference and exhibition leader, her professional experience in the life sciences industry has focused on business unit management, product strategy, sales, marketing and operations.
“This position is a truly unique opportunity for me to help strengthen relationships between DIA and our members, partners, and the emerging innovations they represent,” said Ko. “I am thrilled to join the DIA team and look forward to further developing DIA through our ability to meet the needs of our members as we continue to provide quality, innovative solutions to the marketplace”
“I am pleased to welcome Heej to DIA. She has an impressive background in sales, business development and strategic solutions planning and the proven track record of excellence in achieving business objectives needed to accelerate our efforts,” said Jonathan Common, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Business Development, DIA. “We look forward to her experience and relationships in life sciences to drive DIA’s strategic solution planning, partnerships and stakeholder engagement while meeting the needs of regulators, pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech companies worldwide.”
Ko received her undergraduate degree in History from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, and completed advanced studies in organic chemistry, molecular biology, physics, and physiology at Columbia University in New York and Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.