Dr. Mario currently serves as Chairman of Capnia and Chimerix, and is a Venture Partner with Pappas Ventures, a life science venture capital firm. In addition to his current and past service on several corporate boards, Dr. Mario is active in numerous educational and healthcare organizations. He is Chairman of the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education, a Director of the Gladstone Foundation, and past Chairman of the Duke University Health System. Dr. Mario served in management at a number of drug companies before being named in 1989 Chief Executive of Glaxo. During his tenure, Glaxo brought five major new products to market and saw sales and profits increase by 15% annually. Later Dr. Mario led drug delivery technology company Alza until selling it to Johnson & Johnson in 2001. He subsequently served as Chairman and CEO of Reliant Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Mario holds honorary doctorates from the University of Rhode Island and Rutgers University, the latter of which in 2001 renamed its pharmacy school the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. In 2007 he was awarded the Remington Medal by the American Pharmacists’ Association, pharmacy’s highest honor.
He received his B.S. in pharmacy from Rutgers University, and M.S. and Ph.D. in physical sciences from the University of Rhode Island.