Lenn has nearly 30 years of global experience developing, leading and contributing to large-scale research on disease understanding and prevention, pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacoeconomics, drug safety, treatment evaluation, bioinformatics, and biomarker discovery.
Previously, Lenn was a director in Worldwide Epidemiology at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, where he led genetic and molecular epidemiology research for target identification and progression, new indications, and safety pharmacogenomics. Following GSK, he led genomic and post-genomic biomarker discovery studies through industry-academic-biotechnology collaborations focused on tobacco harm reduction and intellectual property prosecution development.
Lenn has co-authored more than 100 scientific publications, technical reports and presentations in neuropsychiatry, substance use disorders, gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases, pharmacogenomics, tobacco harm reduction and adolescent mental health, and has twice received US Fulbright awards for biomedical research and teaching in Latin America.
Since 1995, Lenn has had post-doctoral, tenure-track, adjunct and affiliate faculty positions in Human Genetics, Epidemiology, Community Health, Pharmacy, Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health and the Center for Health Studies in Medellín, Colombia. While at the VCU, he directed the largest twin registry in the United States, and is currently on the National Advisory Council for the VCU School of Pharmacy.
Lenn has consulted for the National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization, Organization of American States, US Department of State, numerous major corporate clients and foreign ministries of health. Appointed in 2010 by the Governor to the Science Advisory Board of the Science Museum of Virginia, he also currently serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Charter Colony Foundation, and on the Board of Advisors for GENETWORx.
Lenn received his BA in Biology from Wake Forest University, MSPH in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed post-doctoral training in genetic epidemiology at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.
