Joseph Cook
About Joseph Cook
Joseph Cook is the Director of Privacy, Ex APAC at BeiGene, with a diverse legal career spanning roles in privacy, contracts, and clinical law across various organizations.
Company
Joseph Cook currently serves as Director, Privacy, Ex-APAC at BeiGene. In this role, he chairs the global and APAC Privacy Steering Committee and acts as the Data Protection Officer in countries where its appointment is mandatory. Cook reports to senior and regional business heads and executive committees such as EC, AC, Board, and BCLT.
Professional Background
Joseph Cook began his career at Dow Chemical as a Student Technologist from 1991 to 1994. He later worked as a Law Clerk at Apex Global Internet Services (AGIS) from 1998 to 1999. His legal profession advanced with roles including Summer Associate at Gifford, Krass, Groh, Sprinkle, Anderson & Citkowski, P.C. in 1999 and Contract Attorney from 2001 to 2003 in Washington, D.C. Cook further honed his skills at Williams and Connolly as a Staff Attorney from 2003 to 2013, and later served various roles including Clinical Associate at Axiom Legal and Contract Attorney at Robert Half International.
Education and Expertise
Joseph Cook holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Michigan Law School, obtained between 1997 and 2000. He also has a Master’s Degree in Botany/Plant Biology with a focus on Evolution and Ecology from Michigan State University, completed between 1994 and 1996. Additionally, Cook completed a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Saginaw Valley State University and studied abroad for a semester at Curtin University.
Achievements in Privacy Management
In his role at BeiGene, Joseph Cook manages a range of complex privacy functions. He identifies, collects, manages, and reports privacy metrics necessary for risk mitigation and escalation. Cook also acts as the point of contact for privacy regulatory authorities, data subjects, work councils, and auditors. He rolls out global privacy awareness and training initiatives, provides privacy notices for corporate websites, and incorporates privacy by design into policies and procedures. His work includes implementing and supervising regional and country privacy projects with significant operational impacts, such as PIPL and Schrems Data Transfer Impact Assessments.
Previous Roles at BeiGene
At BeiGene, Joseph Cook has held multiple roles enhancing his expertise in privacy and contract law. Before becoming Director, Privacy, Ex-APAC, he served as Privacy Counsel, Ex-APAC for six months in 2022 and as Contracts Counsel in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 2018 to 2022.