MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Avellino Labs, global leader in genetic science and gene therapy concerning corneal health, today announced that Shigeru Kinoshita, MD, PhD has joined the company’s medical advisory board. Professor Kinoshita will help guide the company’s research efforts to developed genetics based personalized medicine solutions to diagnose and treat corneal dystrophies, a leading cause of visual impairment that effects more than 900 million people in the developed world and accounts for roughly half of the keratoplasty, or corneal transplant, surgeries performed today.
Shigeru Kinoshita, MD, PhD, graduated from Osaka University Medical School in 1974 and has served as the Professor and Chairman of Ophthalmology at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine since 1992. In the early 1980s he collaborated with Doctor Richard A. Toft at The Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston and completed a cornea fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He is known in the global ophthalmic community for his groundbreaking and innovative research concerning to the Cornea.
Professor Kinoshita commented, “Avellino Labs has demonstrated a commitment to science by collaborating with some of the leading academic researchers around the world working in the field of genetics of the cornea. I am pleased to join the collaboration and work with this distinguished group of collaborators to help guide the science forward for the ultimate benefit of patients.”
“Having tested over 550,000 people and identified over 720 with gene mutations known to cause inherited corneal dystrophy, we now have the largest genetic database in the world related to this vision threatening condition,” commented Gene Lee, Chairman and Founder of Avellino Labs. “We are now transitioning our research emphasis from diagnostics to therapy with new gene editing technologies. Professor Kinoshita’s guidance as we pioneer this field will be an invaluable asset to the team.”
About Avellino Labs
Avellino Labs is the global leader in gene therapy and molecular diagnostics pioneering personalized medicine for eye care. Avellino’s Universal Test is the world’s first DNA test adopted to confirm LASIK candidates are free of genetic indicators associated with poor outcomes. Avellino Labs is also pioneering CRISPR gene editing to manage and potentially cure corneal dystrophies and other inherited eye diseases. Avellino Labs is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California with operations in Korea, Japan, China and the UK.
Avellino Labs was named a 2015 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum based on its potential to impact global health.
To learn more please visit http://www.avellinolabs.com/us/ or follow us on Twitter @Avellinolab_USA
Media Contact:
Paula Hook
Avellino Labs
Director of Marketing Communications
972.517.1784 / 214.356.4427 (mobile)
paula.hook@avellinolabs.com
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SOURCE Avellino Labs
