Taconic Biosciences Announces the Formation of Scientific Advisory Board

RENSSELAER, N.Y., Feb. 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taconic Biosciences, a global leader in genetically engineered mouse models and associated services, announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) with the initial appointments of J. Victor Garcia, PhD, Andrew Goodman, PhD, and David Hill, PhD.

The SAB will collaborate with Taconic's management in providing scientific insight and guidance on the evolution of the company's product and service portfolios. Capitalizing on Taconic's existing leadership in both the microbiome and immuno-oncology spaces, the SAB members bring complementary expertise to continue to drive innovation in these and other research areas.

"Discovery and pre-clinical animal models continue to move toward highly-complex and high-value translational models. To continue to provide the best solutions for our customers, it is essential for Taconic to have guidance from prominent scientific experts as we develop and validate new models and services," shared Bob Rosenthal, CEO of Taconic Biosciences. 

Dr. J. Victor Garcia is a Professor of Medicine in the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases (IGHID), and the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine, all at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an Oliver Smithies Investigator and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. Throughout his career, Dr. Garcia has established himself as an expert in the development, implementation, and use of humanized mice for biomedical research, particularly in the area of infectious disease. Dr. Garcia received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and a PhD in chemistry from Georgetown University.

Dr. Andrew Goodman is an Associate Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis and a member of the Microbial Sciences Institute at Yale University School of Medicine. For this work, Dr. Goodman has been recognized with the NIH Director's New Innovator Award, the Pew Scholars Fellowship, DuPont Young Professor Award, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator Award, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering. Dr. Goodman's research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of interaction between members of the human gut microbiome and with the host. The Goodman Lab combines microbial genetics, gnotobiotic animal models, and computational approaches to develop new technologies for studying the microbiome and to apply these approaches to uncover the causes and consequences of interpersonal microbiome variation. Dr. Goodman was trained in ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University and completed his PhD in microbiology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. David Hill has established a successful and extensive career leading the pharmacology departments of many major pharmaceutical companies, including a combined twenty years at Organon and Merck.  Dr. Hill's therapeutic expertise includes neuroscience, pain, anesthesia, cardiometabolic disease, and oncology. During his career, Dr. Hill played a pivotal role in directing preclinical animal model programs of various sizes that resulted in many new approved therapeutics. Beyond his scientific expertise, Dr. Hill also brings a keen knowledge of harmonizing internal and outsourced resources to produce both sound scientific and business results. Dr. Hill earned a Bachelor of Science in applied biology from Hatfield Polytechnic and a PhD in pharmacology from St. Thomas Hospital Medical School.

To learn more about Taconic's products and services, please call 1-888-TACONIC (888-822-6642) in the US, +45 70 23 04 05 in Europe, or email [email protected].

About Taconic Biosciences, Inc.
Taconic Biosciences is a fully-licensed, global leader in genetically engineered rodent models and services. Founded in 1952, Taconic provides the best animal solutions so that customers can acquire, custom generate, breed, precondition, test, and distribute valuable research models worldwide. Specialists in genetically engineered mouse and rat models, precision research mouse models, and integrated model design and breeding services, Taconic operates three service laboratories and six breeding facilities in the U.S. and Europe, maintains distributor relationships in Asia and has global shipping capabilities to provide animal models almost anywhere in the world.

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