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Brain Research
Informatics |
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Seaside Therapeutics
Announces Formation of Board of Directors
Other Topics: Engineering
Informatics for Life Sciences
PRNewswire
August 24, 2006
Cambridge, MA -- Seaside Therapeutics today announced the
appointment of Steven E. Hyman, MD and Geoffrey Duyk, MD, PhD as
founding members of its Board of Directors. Harvard University
Provost, Professor Steven E. Hyman, MD, will serve as Chairman.
"It is with great pleasure that I welcome Professor Hyman and
Dr. Duyk to our Board of Directors," said Dr. Randall Carpenter,
Co-Founder, President and CEO of Seaside Therapeutics. "Their
broad experience, strategic insights and industry knowledge will
be significant assets to the company as we develop treatments
for patients with fragile X syndrome, autism and other disorders
of brain development." |
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Steven E. Hyman,
MD is Provost of Harvard University and Professor of
Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. From 1996 to 2001, he
served as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
the component of the US National Institutes of Health charged
with generating the knowledge needed to understand and treat
mental illness. Before serving as Director of NIMH, Dr. Hyman
was Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director
of Psychiatry Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and
the first faculty Director of Harvard University's Mind, Brain,
and Behavior Initiative. In the laboratory, he studied the
molecular biology of neurotransmitter action. Dr. Hyman is a
member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of
Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
"I look forward to working with the team of a truly innovative
company," said Professor Hyman. "Seaside is the first and only
company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel
therapeutics for individuals with disorders of brain development
such as fragile X syndrome and autism. The lead compound has the
potential to significantly improve the quality of life for these
patients and their families."
Geoffrey Duyk, MD, PhD, is Managing Director of Texas Pacific
Group Ventures, where he focuses on the Life Sciences sector.
Prior to joining Texas Pacific Group Ventures in 2004, Dr. Duyk
served on the Board of Directors and was President of Research &
Development at Exelixis where he led a 550+ person group focused
on the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics.
Prior to Exelixis, he was one of the founding scientific staff
at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. As Vice President of Genomics at
Millennium, Dr. Duyk was responsible for building and leading
the informatics, automation, DNA sequencing and genotyping
groups as well as the mouse and human genetics group. Prior to
his tenure at Millennium, Dr. Duyk was an Assistant Professor at
Harvard Medical School (HMS) in the Department of Genetics and
Assistant Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
While at HMS, Dr. Duyk was a Co-Principal Investigator in the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Cooperative Human
Linkage Center. Dr. Duyk has been and continues to be a member
of numerous NIH panels and oversight committees focused on the
planning and execution of the human genome project.
"The founders have brought together a world-class scientific
team and acquired an excellent lead compound from Merck that has
demonstrated strong preclinical efficacy," said Dr. Duyk. "I
look forward to working with the Seaside team to develop
important drugs that will make a significant difference in
patients' lives."
Please visit http://www.seasidetherapeutics.com/ for more
information on our board members and drug development program.
About Seaside Therapeutics
Seaside Therapeutics was founded to translate exciting new brain
research, including the promising discoveries of Scientific
Founder Professor Mark Bear, into effective therapeutics for
patients with disorders of brain development such as fragile X
syndrome and autism. Dr. Bear, Picower Professor Neuroscience at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Investigator,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, discovered a link between
genetic mutations found in individuals with fragile X syndrome,
a specific genetic disorder of brain development, and
dysfunction in the metabotropic glutamate (mGluR)
neurotransmitter system. Independent international researchers
have confirmed that genetic and pharmacologic interventions
targeting specific mGluR receptors normalize brain development
and behavior in animal models, thus validating the "mGluR theory
of fragile X." Our lead selective mGluR compound was licensed
from Merck Pharmaceuticals, is in advanced stages of preclinical
development and has demonstrated profound efficacy in animal
models of fragile X, thus providing compelling justification for
advancing this novel treatment into human trials.
Contact: Colleen Baker
Phone: 617.374.9009 X1003
Email: cbaker@seasidetherapeutics.com
Website: http://www.seasidetherapeutics.com/ |
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