PENTAX Medical, an endoscopic imaging company with global headquarters in Japan, announced this week that Hudson Garrett Jr., PhD, has been hired as Global Chief Clinical Officer. He will be responsible for building the company’s Global Clinical Affairs program.

“The healthcare industry is evolving rapidly and is in a state of learning and adapting,” Garrett said in a prepared statement. “The entire industry needs a sustainable focus on hygiene, infection prevention and control intervention, evidence-based clinical education, clinical research, and patient education and partnership. I am pleased to join PENTAX Medical because of its organizational commitment and partnership with healthcare providers and clinical partners to improve the patient experience, reduce costs and variations in clinical care, and improve clinical outcomes and population health. PENTAX Medical is uniquely positioning itself as a global leader in device hygiene and infection prevention and control.”

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Garrett on board to build our thought leadership in device hygiene and infection prevention,” David Woods, PENTAX global chief marketing officer, said in the same statement. “His breadth of experience and depth of knowledge, along with his passion for educating others and improving the quality of lives for patients, make him a valuable addition to the PENTAX team. Dr. Garrett embodies our mission of improving the standard of patient care and quality of healthcare delivery.”

Garrett previously worked as PDI’s vice president of clinical affairs. He received a presidential citation from the Society of Critical Care Medicine in 2011 and was listed as a “Who’s Who in Infection Prevention and Control” by Infection Control Today Magazine in 2013.