Chester Kitchen Merck & Co., Inc.

Chet Kitchen is a Director in Corporate Development at Merck & Co., Inc. supporting R&D, commercial, manufacturing, and business development functional areas.  Chet joined Merck in 2000 and held additional roles of increasing responsibility in Clinical Drug Metabolism, Project Management, and Medical Affairs and Policy.  Chet also worked in medical examiner facilities as a Forensic Investigator, Forensic Toxicologist, and Autopsy Technician prior to joining Merck.  While in his mid-40s, Chet was diagnosed with Stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and was treated with the standard of care including multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation.  A year later, Chet faced his second battle with Stage 4 head and neck cancer and started additional treatments with a very poor prognosis.