WALTHAM, Mass. (PRWEB)
February 16, 2021

Olaris, Inc, a precision medicine company leveraging metabolomics and machine learning for the discovery and development of Biomarkers of Response (BoRs) to optimize treatments and patient outcomes, has appointed Dr. Cynthia Ma of Washington University in St. Louis and Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli from Northwestern Medicine to its Scientific Advisory Board and Medical Advisory Board. Dr. Ma and Dr. Cristofanilli will provide guidance on commercializing Olaris’ successful research identifying metabolic signatures for response to CDK4/6 inhibitors and building a pipeline of clinically differentiated, high-value diagnostic solutions.

“We are honored to have Dr. Ma and Dr. Cristofanilli join Olaris to provide their clinical expertise in the development of our BoR diagnostic tests” said Dr. Elizabeth O’Day, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Olaris, Inc.

“Dr. Ma and Dr. Cristofanilli embody Olaris’ commitment to rigorous and impactful science. Dr. Ma’s translational research excellence has led to the discovery of biomarkers and an improved understanding of resistance mechanisms in breast cancer. Dr. Cristofanilli’s seminal work in non-invasive biomarkers has transformed the treatment of breast cancer. Their insights will accelerate our ability to improve patient outcomes, reduce unnecessary exposure to toxic side effects, and reduce spend on ineffective treatments.”

“I share Olaris’ vision that biomarkers are the cornerstone of precision medicine and am honored to join the Olaris Advisory Board to bring innovative diagnostics forward that impact patient care” said Dr. Ma.

“I am impressed by Olaris’s technology and early data suggesting the potential use of a metabolomics signature as an independent and robust predictive biomarker in metastatic breast cancer” said Dr. Cristofanilli. “I am confident that metabolomics will represent another powerful tool in the liquid biopsy diagnostic portfolio to advance monitoring capabilities for our breast cancer patients.”

Dr. Cynthia Ma, Professor of Medicine, Division of Oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, is a physician scientist with research focus in breast cancer biomarkers and targeted therapeutics development. She has designed and conducted several mechanism-based early phase trials of novel agents in patients with resistant breast cancer. Her laboratory has focused on biomarkers and resistance mechanisms for agents that target cell cycle and PI3K pathway through analysis of clinical specimens and preclinical studies using breast cancer cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models.

Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli, Professor of Medicine, Associate Director of Translational Research and Precision Medicine, Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University is a physician scientist with a major research interest in the detection, characterization, and therapeutic targeting of microscopic disease in breast cancer. His work on CellSearch™, a novel immunomagnetic-based technology, and subsequent trials successfully demonstrated the clinical value of circulating tumor cell detection in the peripheral blood of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. He is also involved in the development of new endocrine therapies for MBC.

Dr. Ma and Dr. Cristofanilli will serve on the Olaris SAB and MAB alongside:

Dr. Gerhard Wagner, Elkan Blout Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School, expert in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, protein structures and dynamics, and the use of small-molecule inhibitors as anti-cancer agents.

Dr. Robert Powers, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, specialist in the development of methods in NMR and mass spectroscopy (MS), for the study of pancreatic cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis.

Stan Lapidus, life-science entrepreneur and founder of several pioneering diagnostic companies, including EXACT Sciences, Heliocos Biosciences, and Cytyc, Inc.

Monty Kothiwale, established Chief Technology Officer and co-founder with expertise in commercializing products leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Business Process Automation.

About Olaris

Olaris is working to fundamentally change how diseases are treated by leveraging our proprietary metabolomics and machine learning platform to identify Biomarker of Response (BoR) signatures. Olaris develops BoR in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) to empower patients, providers, and biopharma to pursue the most effective treatment. To learn more, visit http://www.olarisbor.com.

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