Beta Theta Pi - MIT

2 B ack in 1978, MIT certainly wasn't known to be the greatest place from a social standpoint, but Dr. Mark Goldberg '82 knew he wanted a balanced college experience and wanted the social part of school to be as fun and meaningful as the academic aspect. Knowing that, it was clear that joining a fraternity would provide that well-rounded experience, and his gut told him to go with Beta Theta Pi. Through his Beta experience, Mark gained lifelong friends, and he learned how to be more independent, open-minded, and humble. Most importantly, the supportive environment that he experienced at Beta Upsilon Chapter ultimately set him up for success beyond college. "Living in the house with Brothers for four years was really enjoyable and opened my eyes to how different we all were from each other in terms of our background experiences and our aspirations," Mark said. "You learn that not everyone thinks the same way as you." Appreciating these differences helped Mark to be more open-minded and living with so many other smart and accomplished men also made him realize the importance of humility. "At a place like MIT, you're always surrounded by people who are as smart or smarter than you. It's preparation for life—you find that everywhere," he stated. "Being humble about these things goes a long way in life. An important part of Beta life was living in a supportive and encouraging environment that helped manage the stress of academics. Having Brothers who could help him and were experiencing similar challenges was instrumental in Mark's undergraduate success and set the tone for his professional path. "Appreciating the importance of a supportive environment has been helpful professionally in building businesses. The same goes for my family life especially in terms of creating a positive environment for our kids," he shared. While at MIT, Mark was never entirely sure what he wanted to do professionally and was torn between staying in computer science, his undergraduate major, and going into medicine. He opted to go to medical school straight from MIT. During his time at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, he found ways to bring his computer science background to the forefront and mix it with what was happening with medical advancements. "I became interested in radiology because that was one of the most technological/engineering-oriented disciplines, and I thought it was fascinating." Mark enjoyed the detective aspect of radiology the most; it was full of problem solving and putting clues together to find out what was happening with a patient. He completed an internship year in internal medicine (a pre-radiology requirement) at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston; he completed his radiology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, joining the faculty there afterward. "I kept my eyes open for opportunities to apply technology in radiology, which wasn't hard to do," he said. "At that time, medical imaging was on the cusp of converting from analog to digital, especially with emerging modalities like CT scanning, MRI, and ultrasound." Fortunately, there were enormous opportunities to use his computer science background in medicine. One of those opportunities was the establishment of WorldCare, a tele-health company spun out from Massachusetts General in 1991 where he served as president and director. Completely by chance, the telehealth technologies proved useful in clinical trials of new drugs by creating the ability to digitally collect and centrally analyze images for drug effect. For example, in oncology one could image tumors to see how they responded to treatment. Mark then went on to join PAREXEL International one of world's largest drug development contract research organizations. He spent 21 years at the company with the last ten as president and chief operating officer. During his leadership there, the company grew to more than 19,000 employees in more than 50 countries. PAREXEL was sold to private equity at the end of 2017, and after thinking about what he wanted to do next, Mark joined the private equity space himself, partnering with Water Street Healthcare Partners as an executive advisor at the end of 2018. A year later, he became executive chairman of CATO SMS, a global provider of specialized clinical research solutions that advance drug development for small and emerging biopharmaceutical companies. "At CATO SMS, we do some of the same things as PAREXEL except with a focus on small, emerging companies," he explained. "One of the opportunities I saw is that large contact resource organizations are not necessarily the best fit for the high touch needs of small emerging companies." Mark is also executive chairman for THREAD, a technology company based in Raleigh- Durham, North Carolina and Orange County, California, that facilitates decentralized clinical trials, allowing patients to participate at home using telehealth technologies. "That's been really important during the pandemic," he said. "Many things have changed irreversibly over the last year, and this method of conducting clinical research is with us to stay." Since May of 2018, he has also served as a board member for Intensity Therapeutics, a clinical-stage oncology biotechnology company where Lewis Bender '81 is CEO. Finally, the best piece of advice Mark has to offer to undergraduate Brothers is to realize that there's always more than one path to reach their goals. "Sometimes, for all your planning, the best opportunities are the ones that are fortuitous — you see the possibilities and you take a chance. That's certainly what I did; my experience was hardly conventional," he stated. "In the end, the greatest opportunities are the ones I didn't plan for in the least, but I saw something in them that excited me. Do things you're excited about and stick with what's interesting to you rather than getting stuck in a defined career path." A silver lining for Mark during the pandemic has been less travel for work, which has allowed him more time for cycling and to spend with his wife, Nancy. They live in Lexington, Massachusetts, and they have two daughters, Rachel, a medical resident at Johns Hopkins, and Sarah, who works in public relations and marketing in California. Mark is an avid cyclist, riding about 7,000 miles a year; this interest also inspired his support of The Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike-a-thon that raises money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "It's fun to do something charitable in the context of an athletic event. I also very much relate to the importance of the cause given the work I do and recognizing what a plague cancer is on society," he said. "Almost everyone has someone in their circle of friends and family who is affected by this disease. Continued research and funding are important and near and dear to my heart." BENEFITS OF THE BETA BROTHERHOOD Dr. Mark Goldberg '82 Shares Formative Fraternity Experience and Unconventional Career Path You can connect with Mark at m.goldberg@ verizon.net.

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