SAN DIEGO, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MicroIslet, Inc. , announced today the appointment of new members to its Scientific Advisory Board. With the addition of Dr. Nora E. Sarvetnick, Dr. Athanassios Sambanis, and Dr. Bassam Damaj to the advisory board, MicroIslet has enlisted a team of the world’s leading experts in islet transplantation therapy for patients with diabetes to provide the Company with strategic guidance on product development, preclinical and clinical study designs, and general oversight of medical and scientific affairs.
Other members of the Scientific Advisory Board include Dr. James Shapiro, Director of the Clinical Islet Transplant Program in Edmonton, Alberta Canada; Dr. Daniel R. Salomon, Associate Professor at The Scripps Research Institute and Director of the Center for Organ and Cell Transplantation for Scripps Health; Dr. Jonathan RT Lakey, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of the Clinical Islet Lab at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada; and Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Surgery, Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami School of Medicine.
Dr. Daniel R. Salomon, Chair of the MicroIslet Scientific Advisory Board, stated, “The participation of these experts in developing and assessing critical areas of science related to MicroIslet’s programs in islet transplantation and biomaterial engineering significantly enhances the potential of MicroIslet and contributes directly to the quality and success of the scientific work underway.”
“The caliber of advisors attracted to the Company adds credibility to our goal of becoming a leader in the field of islet transplantation therapy for people with diabetes. We are fortunate to have such a talented group of advisors,” stated Dr. Haro Hartounian, President and Chief Operating Officer of MicroIslet. “We expect their guidance to expedite the development of our lead product candidate.”
Following are brief biographies on the members of the MicroIslet Scientific Advisory Board.
Nora Sarvetnick, Ph.D.
Dr. Sarvetnick joined the faculty at The Scripps Research Institute in 1990 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuropharmacology. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 1994, and in 1996 was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in the Department of Immunology. In 2000 she became a full Professor in the Department of Immunology. Professor Sarvetnick graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1978 with a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1986, from The State University of New York, Stony Brook. She received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Muscular Dystrophy Association in 1986, and completed her postdoctoral studies in 1990 at Genentech Inc. in the laboratory of Dr. T.A. Stewart. She has over 140 peer reviewed publications and has received a number of awards, which include a Career Development Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (1990-1993) and a Multidisciplinary Diabetes Program Project Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (1995-2000). She has also twice been awarded an American Diabetes Association Mentor-Based Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Award (1996-2002 and 2005-2009). Her area of expertise is in Immunology and Type 1 Diabetes.
Athanassios Sambanis, Ph.D.
Dr. Sambanis received his BS in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University in Athens, Greece, and his Ph.D. in 1985, also in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Following a two-and-a-half year post-doctoral appointment at the MIT Biotechnology Process Engineering Center and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, he joined the School of Chemical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology as Assistant Professor in 1989. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1995 and to Professor in 2002. He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a Member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and of the Tissue Engineering Society International. He has co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications, has two patents issued and several pending, and has given over 180 presentations at national and international meetings. His research is currently supported by NSF and NIH; prior support included the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Whitaker Foundation.
Bassam Damaj, Ph.D.
Dr. Damaj is President and Chief Executive Officer of Bio-Quant, Inc., a company that seeks to translate scientific discoveries into safer, more effective treatments for people with immune and other life threatening diseases. Before joining Bio-Quant, Dr. Damaj served as President and CEO of BioSignature Diagnostics, Inc. He also served as the Group Leader for the Office of New Target Intelligence and a Group Leader for multiple immunological and inflammatory disease programs at Tanabe Research Laboratories USA, Inc. Previous appointments included serving as a senior scientist and a member of the senior staff board of the drug discovery department at New Jersey-based Pharmacopeia Inc. He also was a visiting scientist at Genentech Inc., Pfizer Inc. and the NIH (NIAID). Dr. Damaj is the inventor of over 12 patents and authored many peer reviewed publications. Dr. Damaj has also been a consultant to many companies including General Atomics, Diazyme, Genentech, Primedica, Celltek Biotechnologies, and Virocell. He is the co-founder of Celltek Biotechnologies, Biosignature Diagnostics and Mina Holdings. Dr. Damaj is the inventor of the AMT technology that won a US Congressional award for the Anthrax Multiplex Diagnostic Test.
Daniel R. Salomon, M.D.
Dr. Salomon is an Associate Professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine. He is the Co- Director of the Center for Organ and Cell Transplantation for Scripps Health. Dr. Salomon is a Special Government Employee for the U.S. FDA and chaired the Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee (BRMAC) from 1999 to 2003. He was also an original member of the U.S. Secretary of Health’s Xenotransplantation Advisory Committee. For the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Salomon has served as the Medical Monitor and Safety Officer for the Immune Tolerance Network for Transplantation, Autoimmunity and Allergy, and in the same capacity for the Cooperative Clinical Trials in Adult and Pediatric Kidney Transplantation. He is presently the Chair of the Steering Committee of the Islet Cell Resource Consortium for the NIH National Center for Research Resources.
James Shapiro, M.D.
Dr. Shapiro is the Director of the Clinical Islet Transplant Program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Dr. Shapiro’s key contributions to the Clinical Islet Transplant Program led to the development of the “Edmonton Protocol” for clinical islet transplantation, which is currently being evaluated in an international multi-centre study funded by a grant from the Immune Tolerance Network of the National Institutes of Health.
Jonathan RT Lakey, Ph.D.
Dr. Lakey is Director of the Clinical Islet Laboratory and Director, Comprehensive Tissue Centre for of the Comprehensive Tissue Centre Capital Health Authority. He is also Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. His research efforts have focused on cell and tissue preservation and transplantation, with specific focus on the isolation and survival of pancreatic islets for clinical transplantation into patients with diabetes. His contributions and partnership with Dr James Shapiro led towards the improvement of islet isolation techniques and the “Edmonton Protocol” for patients with Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Lakey has been awarded several scholarships and research awards for his research achievements in islet transplantation from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR), Canadian Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International (JDFI) and University Hospital Foundation and Diabetes Wellness Foundation. Dr Lakey is the co-director of the JDFI Centre in Edmonton and Director of the JDFI Human Islet Distribution Program at the University of Alberta. Dr Lakey sits editorial boards of several diabetes and transplantation journals, reviews manuscripts for several journals and a Councilor for Cell Transplant Society.
Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D.
Dr. Kenyon is an Associate Professor of Surgery, Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Dr. Kenyon serves as Associate Director for Research and Program Development, Co-Director of the Cell Transplant Center, Responsible Head of the Hematopoietic Cell Processing Facility, and Director, Pre-Clinical Islet Cell Transplantation at the Diabetes Research Institute. She was awarded the Martin Kleiman Investigatorship for her research in islet cell transplantation. Dr. Kenyon’s translational research efforts are currently funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Immunologic Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
The Company also announced that it filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 23, 2005 disclosing the matters approved at its annual meeting of stockholders held November 17, 2005, including the adoption of the Company’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan, and the notice of resignation given by William G. Kachioff, the Company’s Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, effective December 26, 2005. The Company stated that Mr. Kachioff’s decision to resign was not the result of any disagreement with the Company, known to any executive officer of the Company, regarding any accounting or financial reporting issues. The Company has commenced a search for a chief financial officer to replace Mr. Kachioff.
About MicroIslet Inc.
MicroIslet, Inc. is a biotechnology company engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of patented technologies in the field of transplantation therapy for patients with insulin-dependent diabetes. MicroIslet’s patented islet transplantation technology, exclusively licensed from Duke University, includes methods for isolating, culturing, cryopreservation, and immuno-protection (microencupsulation) of islet cells. MicroIslet plans to develop and commercialize a first product, called MicroIslet-PTM, a microencapsulated porcine islet cell suspension that will be used for transplantation in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes. Additional information about the Company can be found at http://www.microislet.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including the expectation of development of the Company’s lead product candidate, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the risks and uncertainties inherent in medical treatment discovery, development and commercialization, the risks and uncertainties associated with MicroIslet’s early stage xenotransplantation technologies, the risks and uncertainties of governmental approvals and regulation, the Company’s need to raise substantial additional capital to execute its business plan, the risks that the Company’s competitors will develop or market technologies or products that are more effective or commercially attractive than the Company’s products, and other risks detailed from time to time in MicroIslet’s SEC reports, including MicroIslet’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. MicroIslet disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Contact: MicroIslet Inc.
(858) 657-0287 info@microislet.com
MicroIslet, Inc.
CONTACT: MicroIslet Inc., +1-858-657-0287, info@microislet.com
Web site: http://www.microislet.com/
