San Diego, CA (PRWEB) October 16, 2006
Salugen, Inc. (http://www.salugen.com), a leading personalized healthcare company, announced today the expansion of its Medical Advisory Board.
“We are honored to have such well-respected physicians and researchers join our Medical Advisory Board,” says CEO Brian Meshkin. “With their guidance and involvement in our commitment to further the research of genetic and nutritional influences on health conditions, I am very optimistic about the scientific contributions we can make to the field of nutrigenomics.”
Salugen continues to expand its Medical Advisory Board of leading physician researchers across various specialities. Members of Salugen’s Medical Advisory Board include so far:
- Daniel Furst, M.D., UCLA School of Medicine
- Vibeke Strand, M.D., Stanford University School of Medicine
- Michelle Pietzak, M.D., University of Southern California School of Medicine
- Georges Halpern, M.D., Ph.D., Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Eric Braverman, M.D., Path Medical Foundation, New York City
“I appreciate Salugen’s willingness to take a well-needed scientific and rational approach to nutrition,” said Daniel Furst, M.D., the Carl M. Pearson Professor of Medicine and Director, Rheumatology Clinical Research Center at the UCLA School of Medicine.
Dr. Furst's research interests are in the clinical pharmacology of drugs used to treat rheumatic and autoimmune diseases, including NSAIDs, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and biological modifiers. He has worked with Salugen management over the past several years on the pharmacogenetics of an anti-folate therapy, methotrexate. He also has an ongoing interest in scleroderma, its pathogenesis, measurement and treatment. He has published more than 300 articles and 10 books. He has served or is serving on the editorial board of Inpharma, Clinical Drug Invest, Drugs, The Journal of Clinical Rheumatology and the Journal of Rheumatology. Additionally, Dr. Furst is an editorial reviewer for professional publications including Arthritis & Rheumatism, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigations, Pharmacotherapy, and the Journal of Rheumatology.
Dr. Vibeke Strand, an Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University School of Medicine states, “Having worked with Brian Meshkin for several years, I am interested in working with Salugen to evaluate the role genes play on commonly used nutritional and dietary supplements, such as Vitamin D and calcium.”
Dr. Strand has been a clinical rheumatologist for 25 years. Her professional interests include development of clinical trial methodology, planning regulatory strategy and clinical studies leading to approval of new agents for treatment of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Dr. Strand has worked with Salugen management over the past several years on the pharmacogenomics of an anti-folate therapy, methotrexate. Her focus is to help translate basic research into clinical trials, evaluate results of these randomized controlled trials and defend successful clinical development at the FDA.
Her commitment to promoting forums for the discussion of rational product development among industry, FDA and academia led to her establishment and co-chairing of the biyearly "Innovative Therapies in Autoimmune Disease" meetings (1988-2005), organizing committee membership of the international Outcomes in Rheumatology Clinical Trials (OMERACT 1-7) consensus conferences (1992-2004), and co-chairing of OMERACT 7 in 2004. She has been invited to speak at FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee meetings discussing Guidance Documents for RA, OA, SLE, JRA, radiographic analyses in RA and pain (1996 - 2003). She has authored over 100 articles, 25 chapters, co-edited several books and multiple proceedings. She is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (1982), a Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology (1986), serves on the editorial board of several rheumatology journals, and is a member of the Cosmos Club (1994).
“I am very excited about Salugen. I have long suspected that the celiac/IBD/autism population has an increased prevalence of food allergies and sensitivities over the general population. And I look forward to participating in research involving the genetics of nutrition and their contribution to these disease states. I know many willing parents and patients who want answers to these kinds of questions. I am honored to serve on this medical advisory board,” says Michelle Pietzak, M.D., an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine.
She received her Bachelors in Biology at Manhattan College in the Bronx, and did her medical school training at SUNY Buffalo. She did both her residency and fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She is boarded in both Pediatrics and Gastroenterology and practices as a Pediatric Gastroenterologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In her practice she cares primarily for children with autoimmune inflammatory bowel diseases (such as celiac disease, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), short bowel syndrome, and those who have special nutritional needs requiring either intravenous nutrition or special formulas. She has written several book chapters and scientific articles, both peer-reviewed and in the lay press, on these topics.
Since 1995, she has been the director of the Center for Celiac Research-West, and has been a co-author on numerous papers and abstracts describing the prevalence of celiac disease in the United States, California and Los Angeles. Dr. Pietzak is also the recipient of numerous grants, including from the NIH, to study autoimmune intestinal diseases, as well as the interactions of E. coli bacteria and the gastrointestinal tract.
Dr. Georges Halpern, M.D. Ph.D is a Professor Emeritus of Medicine, University of California Davis, and currently a Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Honorary Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Hong Kong. Dr Halpern has worked and lectured in 76 countries. He is recognized worldwide for his many contributions to the field of medicine and is an internationally recognized authority on allergies, asthma, immunology, nutrition, and alternative medicine. Dr. Halpern is also the author of over 150 scientific publications. He resides in Portola Valley, California.
Born a French citizen in Warsaw, Poland, he was raised in Paris, where he attended the Sorbonne. From there he went on to receive his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine of Paris. He received his PhD DSc degree, with highest honors and jury honors, from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Paris-South. Dr. Halpern is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (London) and of 26 other prestigious national, foreign and international academies and scientific societies. Georges M. Halpern is the author of seventeen books and 56 book chapters and has published 138 original papers and hundreds of reviews and abstracts. In 1985, he was awarded the Medal of Vermeil by the City of Paris for his outstanding contributions to medicine, dedication to patients, and personal achievements.
Dr. Eric Braverman is the Director of The Place for Achieving Total Health (PATH Medical), with locations in New York, NY, Penndel, PA (metro-Philadelphia), and a national network of affiliated medical professionals. Dr. Braverman received his B.A. Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University and his M.D. with honors from New York University Medical School, after which he performed an internship in Internal Medicine with a Yale Medical School affiliate in Greenwich, CT. Dr. Braverman is one of the foremost experts in Integrative Medicine-the combination of Conventional, Alternative and Holistic therapies recognized as the paradigm for the 21st Century. He views every patient as a whole, with recognition of the brain's global impact on illness and health.
In addition to private practice at PATH Medical, Dr. Braverman maintains Directorship of The PATH Foundation, a nonprofit research organization established to collect and analyze information concerning the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of all aspects of brain biochemical disorders, with specific focus on the impact of brain illness on overall health. PATH Foundation projects, conducted with affiliated associates, have yielded revolutionary research documenting that brain disease or genetic weaknesses significantly contribute to psychiatric disorders.
The PATH Foundation also has been intensely involved in the development of both clinic-use and at-home therapies dedicated to improving the health of the brain. Dr. Braverman has conducted research with renowned scientists in the field of brain research including Rodolfo Llinas, M.D., Ph.D., who developed an in vitro brain model, Ernest Noble, M.D., Ph.D. and Kenneth Blum, PhD who made breakthroughs in the genetics of alcoholism research and the electrophysiology of addictive behavior, as well as Nora Volkow, M.D. who was recently appointed head the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
About Salugen
Salugen, Inc., a leading personalized healthcare company, engages in the discovery, development and commercialization of patent-protected genetic tests and companion DNA-customized therapeutics worldwide. With over 30 years of research conducted on the genetic causes and pharmacology of many healthcare concerns, Salugen is a pioneer and leader in delivering personalized medicine. Currently, the Company commercializes nutrigenomic technologies where genetic analysis guides the formulation and delivery of nutritional solutions that are customized to the individual. The company has headquarters in San Diego, CA, with its high-complexity CLIA-certified laboratory services in Los Angeles, CA. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.salugen.com.
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