Christy Shaffer

Christy Shaffer, Ph.D. has over 20 years of experience in the life science industry. Following her career as a clinical scientist, international project leader and Associate Director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Burroughs Wellcome Co., she joined Inspire Pharmaceuticals in 1995 as the first, full-time employee. She was responsible for raising over $300M for the company, including taking the company public in 2000. As President and CEO, Dr. Shaffer grew the company from 20 scientists to nearly 250 employees with revenues of over $100M. Under her leadership, Inspire was named as “Best Place to Work for Scientists” by The Scientist magazine, and “Best Place to Work in North Carolina.” Dr. Shaffer retired from Inspire in March, 2010 and the company was acquired by Merck in 2011. Dr. Shaffer played an integral role in the Chancellor’s Innovation Circle to enhance entrepreneurship and innovation across the UNC-Chapel Hill campus (2010 – 2012). She has served on numerous boards including the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, the NC Biotechnology Center, the Biotechnology Institute, BIO, PhRMA and Clinipace Worldwide. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and is the current Foundation Board Chair for the NC School of Science and Mathematics. She currently serves on two corporate boards: EvoApp, a rapidly growing business intelligence software company in Durham, NC and Clearside Biomedical, an Atlanta and RTP-based ophthalmic company (board chair) and two advisory boards: The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in Chapel Hill (Vice-Chair) and the Sid Martin Biotech Incubator associated with the University of Florida. She received the Hamner Leadership Award at the NC BIOTECH meeting in 2011. Dr. Shaffer is a receptor pharmacologist by training, earning her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Tennessee. Her post-doctoral training was completed at The Chicago Medical School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

EvoApp