Desert Duo
Critical Path Institute’s Dynamic Leadership Team
By Tara Kirkpatrick
Critical Path Institute, a groundbreaking nonprofit driving better and faster drug development across the world, is led by a respected pair who are the ultimate tag team for science and structure.
Dr. Klaus Romero, CEO, and Kristen Swingle, president and COO, are truly the glue behind a global public-private partnership that, from its humble Tucson headquarters, has helped accelerate progress in new drugs and treatments for patients for 20 years.
“We have tremendous talent here and a wonderful structure,” said Romero, who served as C-Path’s Chief Scientific Officer before being named CEO in 2024. He has been with the organization for 18 of its 20 years.
“Anytime anything important happens, whether it’s day-to-day operations or something that develops for us anywhere on the planet, we stay connected as close to real-time as possible,” he said.
This C-Path leadership team achieves results– for patients, for industry, for regulatory agencies and for stakeholders worldwide.
“Klaus and Kristen are a truly exceptional team,” said C-Path founder Dr. Raymond Woosley. “They bring a rare blend of deep regulatory and scientific expertise with the interpersonal skills to lead large, complex teams across different stakeholder groups. They don’t just manage, they inspire.”
Whereas Romero sets the vision and passion for C-Path, Swingle perfects the process, driving the daily infrastructure for C-Path researchers and staff. They are the perfect “partners in crime,” as they like to say.
“We need a CEO who’s driving ideas and has the strategic mindset,” said Swingle. “Klaus is phenomenal at that. When he’s traveling to D.C., I’m dealing with matters here and making sure we’ve got that continuity. It’s also bouncing ideas off each other. I’m focused on the operational standpoint, making sure everyone has everything they need.”
Said Romero, “She sets a realistic expectation. I can get really excited about something around cutting-edge science or clinical development, but I need somebody to give me a reality check of what is realistically achievable.”
A prominent physician and clinical scientist from Colombia, Romero was presenting at a scientific meeting in 2007 when he had the chance to hear Woosley speak. Impressed with the nonprofit’s work in just its first two years, they immediately hit it off, so much so, that Woosley asked Romero to come work with C-Path.
“By December 2007, Olga Lucía and I were moving to Tucson and that was it,” recalled Romero. “I am indebted to Ray, for what he taught me, what he gave me personally and professionally. I will never be able to repay him.” Romero would go on to serve as executive director of both clinical pharmacology and the quantitative medicine program at C-Path before advancing to CSO and CEO.
Romero is also a talented guitarist, often referring to himself as a “happy musician who happens to be a clinical scientist.” He plays bass, drums, keyboard, and relishes the ties between music and analytic thinking.
“There’s a number of components of the connection between music and my day-to-day and how I approach leadership,” he explained. “For any band to be successful, everyone has a role to play.”
Swingle, a Tucson native, joined C-Path in 2019 with two decades of medical and molecular science experience, most recently as VP of stem cell operations for Cord Blood Registry.
“I had the benefit of joining the organization at a time when a lot of hard work had already been put in and they had really built such a foundation for the successes we have had,” she said. Yet, Swingle has absolutely left her mark, helping to navigate C-Path through the COVID-19 pandemic as well as becoming a true bioscience ambassador in the region. She was chairwoman of the Arizona Bioindustry Association from 2018 to 2023 and is a national advisory board member of the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona.
Romero recalled her job interview: “I said, ‘Don’t wait, hire her!”
Both Romero and Swingle herald the opportunity to head a global, game-changing organization from Southern Arizona.
“If you look at the big biopharma areas, each one of them has its own identity…the Bay Area, Boston, etc. But what is the identity of Tucson? It’s growing as a hub for biopharma with a growing collaboration identity. Selfishly, I think we’ve contributed to that,” said Romero.
Added Swingle, “I’m a by-product of this community. There’s an element of Tucson in particular that is somewhat intangible. The people here are so invested in making Tucson better. We are literally making the world better, and we are right here doing it.”
Picture above from left – Dr. Klaus Romero, CEO, Critical Path Institute; Kristen Swingle, President & COO, Critical Path Institute. Photo by Brent G. Mathis
READ THE FULL SPECIAL REPORT HERE.
