Huntington Medical Research Institutes, an independent biomedical research center in Pasadena, announced June 27 it appointed Julia Bradsher as chief executive.

Bradsher, now chief executive of the International Food Protection Training Institute of Portage, Mich., will assume her position effective Aug. 6.

“We are most fortunate to have a professional with Julia’s management ability and scientific background joining HMRI as our new CEO,” said John Mothershead, chair of the HMRI board of directors. “We anticipate great things for HMRI going forward under her leadership.”

The 66-year-old institutes moved into a new $31 million biomedical laboratory last spring atop a 2.5-acre campus at 686 S. Fair Oaks Ave.

The new 35,000-square-foot research and clinical lab was built to treat patients with conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease to migraine, traumatic brain injury and sleep apnea.

Bradshaw, who has held leadership roles in the pharmaceutical industry, previously served as chief executive of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, a Virginia-based nonprofit dedicated to food allergy awareness, education, research and advocacy.

She has served as adjunct faculty at the University of California, San Francisco, Sonoma State University and San Francisco State University and was a research scientist at the New England Research Institute. She was awarded a PhD in medical sociology from the University of Miami, and an MBA from the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University in Boston.

Health business reporter Dana Bartholomew can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @_DanaBart.