SAN DIEGO, May 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Biomatrica, Inc., the leader in room temperature sample storage and stabilization, today announced the appointment of Dr. James A. Robb to the Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Robb is a well respected pathologist and scientist with over 45 years experience in the fields of molecular pathology, virology, and genetics. He currently serves as a Governor of the College of American Pathologists, an organization consisting of over 18,000 board-certified pathologists, and for the past few years has been a SAIC-Frederick Consulting Pathologist in the Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research (OBBR), National Cancer Institute, NIH. Dr. Robb also served on the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ Committee for Genetics, Health and Society Task Force on Oversight of Genetic Tests. Dr. Robb received his M.D. (cum laude) from the University of Colorado in 1965, and completed his pathology residency and molecular biology training at Yale University, before becoming a Senior Surgeon at NIH. After NIH, he moved to the Department of Pathology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), becoming a tenured Professor of Pathology before taking the position of staff pathologist and director of molecular pathology and cytopathology at Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA. He then helped develop, and then became Medical Director of the HCA East Florida Division’s Integrated Regional Laboratories.

“Since being introduced to Biomatrica technology, it has become apparent to me how critical this technology is to the future of personalized medicine and global health care initiatives. As a long-term participant and policy maker in the collection, annotation, processing, storage and clinical testing of biospecimens, I am fully aware of the need to protect and better manage these critical samples, especially as we transition into the era of personalized molecular, genomically informed medicine,” says Dr. Robb. “We are in need of new technologies that deliver significant cost savings, superior logistics to cold handling and storage, without compromising biospecimen quality and integrity. All of these benefits are found in the technologies that have been and are being developed at Biomatrica, and I am delighted to serve on the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.”

“Biomatrica is proud to have Dr. Robb join our SAB team bringing a wealth of experience, expertise and knowledge in clinical and molecular diagnostics for disease management and stratification,” says Dr. Rolf Muller, Biomatrica’s Chief Scientific Officer, President and Founder. “Dr. Robb will play a key role in helping Biomatrica chart a new course with new technologies under development designed for efficient management of critical biological samples for use in clinical trials, diagnostics, biobanking, genomics research, as well as forensic investigations. With Jim joining our SAB, we believe that Biomatrica is primed to become the leader in ambient stabilization for all biosamples and create the types of solutions that support and enhance better management of samples for advancing globalized health care and personalized medicine.”

About Biomatrica, Inc.

Biomatrica (www.biomatrica.com) is a San Diego-based biostability company that provides innovative technologies for stabilizing, processing, storing, shipping and assaying biological samples at room temperature. The core technology is designed for use in preserving complex biological samples and assays and is based on the principles of anhydrobiosis (“life without water”), a natural mechanism that allows multicellular organisms to survive extreme environments. Biomatrica’s current products stabilize DNA and RNA with no sample degradation, thus labs can reduce their reliance on freezers and drastically reduce shipping costs. Biomatrica products are used in laboratories performing life science research, from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to academic research and forensics laboratories. Custom services to stabilize additional sample types such as proteins are also available. Biomatrica also offers SampleWare® software, an easy-to-use, customizable laboratory management database that provides scientists with the means to store and organize their sample data, and directly supports samples stabilized by Biomatrica technology. For more information about the SampleMatrix technology and the Biomatrica products utilizing this technology platform (DNAstable® and DNAgard for DNA, RNAstable® for RNA and CloneStable® for bacterial DNA), visit: http://www.biomatrica.com/ or call 1-866-379-6879.

SOURCE Biomatrica