BOSTON, June 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Veritas Genetics announces Robert C. Green, MD, MPH and Natasha Y. Frank, MD, FACMG, are now members of its distinguished Medical & Scientific Advisory Board. The two respected medical geneticists, known for their extensive experience in genomics, will join an existing team of leading experts who advise Veritas, the leader in accessible whole genome sequencing and interpretation. Both Dr. Green and Dr. Frank are board-certified, medical geneticists and physician scientists who serve as professors of medicine in the Division of Genetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
“As whole genome sequencing begins to increasingly play an integral role in adult and pediatric care, it is essential for Veritas to access guidance from leading medical professionals,” said Mirza Cifric, co-founder and CEO of Veritas. “Drs. Green and Frank are not only at the forefront of the science of genomics, they also have a clear sense of how to translate this complex information for patients and make it clinically useful for physicians. As Veritas leads the major shift towards integrating people’s whole genome data into their overall healthcare and lifestyle, we need the counsel of our Medical & Scientific Advisory Board to ensure we do so responsibly, efficiently and with the highest quality and standards.”
Dr. Green has extensive experience researching the medical, behavioral and economic outcomes associated with the implementation of genomic medicine. He directs the Genomes2People Research Program and leads the first randomized trials to explore the implementation of medical sequencing in adults and newborns through the MedSeq and BabySeq Projects, both of which are designed to examine how best to integrate sequencing into clinical medicine, safely and effectively.
“I believe whole genome sequencing will eventually be a natural and necessary part of every individual’s healthcare experience, beginning at birth,” explained Dr. Green. “I am excited to be advising a new company in this space.”
Dr. Frank has garnered broad expertise in the fields of cancer biology, genetics and stem cell biology. She leads research programs funded by the National Institutes of Health, Veterans Administration and Department of Defense that investigate the biology of stem cells residing in human tissues and their relationship to genetic disease and cancer.
“We are very fortunate to practice medicine at a time when we can read and understand the human genome,” said Dr. Frank. “As a geneticist, I am thrilled about the unprecedented opportunities brought on by the rapid advances in whole genome sequencing technology as well as the opportunity to solve the most challenging clinical cases and contribute to future therapeutic discoveries.”
Doctors Green and Frank will join the following existing Veritas Medical & Scientific Advisory Board members:
- George Church, PhD - Co-founder, SAB Chairman, Veritas. Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School and MIT. Founding core member, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard.
- Peter Blume-Jensen, MD, PhD - Scientific leader in personalized oncology, targeted oncology therapeutics, and biomarker research. Currently CSO, Xtuit. Former executive, Metamark Genetics, Daiichi Sankyo, Merck and Serono.
- George Siber, MD, PhD - Former EVP and CSO, Wyeth. Faculty at Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber. Currently adjunct professor of medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical School.
- Scott Patterson, PhD - Previously Amgen Executive Director, Medical Sciences, and VP, Proteomics, Celera Genomics. Currently VP, Biomarker Sciences, Gilead Sciences, Inc.
- Scott Parazynski, MD - Former NASA astronaut and physiologist with expertise in human adaptation to extreme environments. Professor of Practice, Arizona State University. Product developer, Stanford MD.
- Shamil Sunyaev, PhD - Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Medicine, Harvard Medical School. Chair in Computational Genomics. Research Geneticist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Associate member, Broad Institute.
- Hans Lehrach, PhD - Director Emeritus, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Genetics. CEO/CSO Dahlem Centre for Genome Research & Medical System Biology. Founder, Alacris Theranostics Gmbh.
About Veritas Genetics
Veritas is The Genome Company. We screen the majority of an individual’s DNA through whole genome sequencing and interpretation to provide insights on inherited disease risks, carrier status, drug sensitivities, traits and ancestry. Our mission is to help people understand their genetics and make more informed health and lifestyle decisions with the involvement of their physician and access to skilled genetic counselors.
Co-founded in 2014 by George Church and leading scientists from the Personal Genome Project at Harvard Medical School, Veritas operates globally from its offices in the U.S., Europe and China. The company was recognized by MIT Technology Review as one of the 50 Smartest Companies in 2016. For more information, follow us at @veritasgenetics on Facebook and Twitter or visit us at veritasgenetics.com.
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SOURCE Veritas Genetics
