Linda G. Strause, PhD is the Chair, Institutional Review Board, Center for Palliative Studies, San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care. She has served in this capacity since 1993. The IRB is responsible for the oversight of all research programs conducted at San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care to ensure the protection of research participants. Dr. Strause is currently the Global Clinical Project Advisor for CancerVax Corporation, a biotechnology company in phase III trials of a vaccine for late stage melanoma. In addition, she holds an appointment as an adjunct Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) where she has been teaching an Introduction to Human Nutrition course since 1989. She is on the editorial review board for Nutrition & the MD and is the current Chair of the Ethics & Regulatory Forum for the Association of Clinical Research Professionals.

Linda received the Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of California, San Diego followed by a doctorate in neurophysiology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Strause conducted her post-doctoral work in the departments of chemistry and biochemistry at UCSD. She has over 20 years of clinical research experience serving as an investigator for an osteoporosis research study, Director of Education and Research at San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care, five years in contracts and regulatory for a large, international contract research organization, and Vice President with a site management network where she was responsible for pharmaceutical corporate partners.