• Research

    Mayo Clinic selects Owen Garrick, M.D., as dean of Clinical Trials

Mayo Clinic Research leaders are excited to announce the arrival of Owen Garrick, M.D., as the dean of Clinical Trials. Dr. Garrick will start in his new position on Oct. 30.

The dean of Clinical Trials is tasked with strengthening Mayo Clinic's standing as a national leader of innovative, demand-generating clinical trials for patients everywhere. Dr. Garrick will lead the transformation of Mayo Clinic’s clinical trials, including developing digital capabilities, accelerating the volume of remote clinical trials and enhancing national awareness of clinical trials at Mayo Clinic. In this role, Dr. Garrick will serve as a member of the Research Executive Management Team, report to Gregory Gores, M.D., Kinney Executive Dean of Research, Mayo Clinic, and partner with Karen Hartman, vice chair, Research Administration, Mayo Clinic.

"We're thrilled to welcome Dr. Garrick into this role that focuses on advancing our clinical trials strategy and operations," says Dr. Gores. "He brings broad and deep experience in clinical trials leadership, business development and participation in external organizations that will be invaluable in ensuring clinical trials are fully integrated with the future of Mayo Clinic's Cure, Connect and Transform strategy."

Dr. Garrick comes to Mayo most recently from CVS Health, where he was chief medical officer for Clinical Trial Services. He also has worked on and lectured and published extensively about diversity and equity for patients and in the healthcare workforce pipeline.

"Dr. Garrick's business acumen is critical to the future of clinical trials as Mayo continues bringing its Category-of-One research, treatments and cures to more patients than ever," says Hartman. "His breadth of experience will challenge us to think differently about clinical trials transformation."   

A wealth of expertise

In his three-decade career, Dr. Garrick has demonstrated a commitment to improving health outcomes, including in drug development, research, ethics, regulatory science and health system management particularly for underserved populations. Under his leadership as chief medical officer for Clinical Trial Services, CVS Health enrolled more than 36,000 participants into U.S. clinical trials, representing 5% of all study participants in the country. Dr. Garrick executed medical strategy for Trial Delivery, Recruitment and Real-World Evidence business lines, ensuring compliance, clinical insights and clinical innovation.

He oversaw the development of machine-learning models for patient identification and outreach, leveraging in-home, digital and retail pharmacy care delivery for research and evidence generation. Dr. Garrick also served as vice president and head of Clinical Trial Development and Delivery for CVS Health, where he launched a large and diverse decentralized clinical trials network and launched a Clinical Trial Diversity solution to improve recruitment of diverse populations into clinical trials.

Dr. Garrick has held leadership positions at several other healthcare organizations, including McKesson, Novartis and Merck. He also has worked on the health insurance side at MetLife, and on the finance side at Goldman Sachs.

Dr. Garrick earned an A.B. (bachelor of arts) in psychology from Princeton University; his M.D. from Yale School of Medicine; and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He's served on several boards including the American Medical Association; the American Psychiatric Association Foundation; Sutter Health; and as a committee member on the Health and Human Services Secretary’s Advisory Council on Human Research Protections.

"I am truly looking forward to this opportunity. I can't wait to get to work helping transform clinical trials at Mayo Clinic," says Dr. Garrick. "The reputation of Mayo Clinic, and the tremendous work the team already has done to expand access to trials for everyone, means Mayo Clinic is positioned to be a clear leader in this space. I'm honored to join the effort."