Former Princeton resident
KERNERSVILLE, N.C. — Vincent M. Traina died unexpectedly at home Monday. He was 64.
Born in Oceanside, N.Y., he lived in Short Hills and subsequently in Princeton before accepting a position at Targacept Inc. in Winston-Salem, N.C., over five years ago.
He was a scientist and pharmaceuticals R&D executive with more than 35 years of industrial experience specializing in toxicology-pathology, metabolism and pharmacokinetics, and clinical and regulatory affairs.
He was employed at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis and Hoechst Marion Roussel. He was also president of Traina Consulting Associates Inc. before joining Targacept, where he was head of toxicology-pathology.
He served on numerous management teams that were credited with the approval of many of today’s most innovative medicinal products. and he was instrumental in designing quality testing procedures that expedited new product development.
He attended Rutgers University and received his doctorate in physiology in 1973. He also received master’s and bachelor’s degrees in biology from Rutgers. In 1981, he was recognized as a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology. He also served on the faculty at the Residential School of Medicinal Chemistry at Drew University in Madison and PhRMA Educational Research Institute, for Good Laboratory Practices training in Washington, D.C. Most recently, he was appointed to the faculty of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in the department of physiology and pharmacology in Winston-Salem, N.C.Dr. Traina was a graduate of St. Benedict’s Preparatory High School in Newark.
Son of the late John and Anne Copertio Traina, he is survived by daughters and sons-in-law Allison Traina and Dmitry Zinoviev, and Kimberly and Brent Traina, all of Princeton; former wife Lynn Miko of Princeton; sister and brother-in-law Theresa and Edward Barlow of Moorestown; brother and sister-in-law Louis and Meg Traina of Naples, Fla.; and many nieces and nephews.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated 9:45 a.m. Saturday at St. Rose of Lima Church, Short Hills Avenue, Short Hills.
Visiting hours will be 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Bradley, Smith & Smith Funeral Home, 415 Morris Ave., Springfield.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Rose of Lima Church, Rutgers University or St. Benedict’s Preparatory School. Further information is available at www.bradleyfuneralhomes.com.
