Focused Ultrasound Foundation names chief relationship officer

Charlottesville-based Focused Ultrasound Foundation has named Ann Taylor its chief relationship officer, the nonprofit organization announced Wednesday. She will start on March 1.

Taylor has more than 27 years of nonprofit leadership experience as executive vice president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and as executive director of the Darden School Foundation at the University of Virginia. She also served on the boards of the Darden School and U.Va. Alumni Association and earned her bachelor’s degree in government and foreign affairs from U.Va., where she also earned her master’s degree in business administration.

“Ann is the perfect fit for our mission to save time and save lives. She brings an extensive background in the nonprofit and entrepreneurial arenas,” Dr. Neal F. Kassell, chairman of the foundation, said in a statement. “Ann’s creativity and experience will help us accelerate this revolutionary, noninvasive therapy for patients.”

Focused ultrasound is FDA-approved and is used in treatment of tremors, Parkinson’s, uterine fibroids, pain from bone metastases and prostate cancer. The foundation was founded in 2006 to accelerate funding for the technology, which is in research and development to treat more than 130 diseases.