Imara Inc. announced the election of Laura A. Williams, M.D., MPH to its Board of Directors. Dr. Williams brings 25 years of early-to-late-stage drug development experience across multiple therapeutic areas, as well as expertise in patient advocacy to Imara. Dr. Williams has served as Senior Vice President of Global Therapeutic Strategies and Patient Advocacy at Ardelyx since November 2020, where she is also a member of the Executive Leadership Team. In this role, she seeks to enhance the credibility of patient advocacy as a life science function and is also charged with developing the company’s portfolio strategy, prioritizing the access of novel therapies to patients in areas of unmet need. Prior to Ardelyx, Dr. Williams was Senior Vice President and Head of Clinical Development and Biostatistics at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for investigational-stage assets, on-market compounds and late-stage development activities. Previously, she was Vice President of Clinical Development at Myovant Sciences, overseeing early-stage clinical development and co-leading business development activities. Ahead of this role, Dr. Williams spent 18 years at Abbott/AbbVie managing clinical development programs across several therapeutic areas in multiple roles of increasing responsibility. Concurrent with the election of Dr. Williams, Mette Kirstine Agger’s term on the company’s Board of Directors ended. Ms. Agger had served as a member of the company’s Board since January 2016.