Lilly elects new member of board of directors

Lilly has announced that Dr Katherine Baicker has been elected as the newest member of its board of directors, effective from the start of this week.

Dr Baicker, the current professor of health economics in the department of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health, will serve in an interim role initially before standing for full election in April 2012.

Her expertise focuses primarily on issues affecting the distribution of public and private health insurance, with her research having featured in publications such as Health Affairs and the Journal of Public Economics.

As a member of the Lilly board, she will serve on the public policy and compliance committee and will provide insight that will help the company to balance the need for innovation with affordable, high-quality health solutions.

Dr John Lechleiter, Lilly's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said: "I am very pleased to welcome Kate Baicker to the Lilly board. Her experience and expertise will surely benefit Lilly shareholders and the patients we serve."

This comes after the firm was named one of the world's top businesses in terms of corporate leadership by Aon Hewitt last week.