VisionGate Inc., an in vitro diagnostics company that has developed the patented Cell-CT®,a 3D cell imaging platform being utilized in early disease detection, recently added three new esteemed business leaders to its Board of Directors. The directors come on board at a pivotal time for VisionGate, as its revolutionary, non-invasive test for the early detection of lung cancer – LuCED® – is poised to enter the market.
Robert A. Heft
Robert A. Heft, PhD is chief executive officer of ILIT BioVentures, an early stage company developing gene therapy for rare metabolic disorders. Dr. Heft is former president and CEO of Enobia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2012, he sold Enobia to Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $1.1 Billion, the largest-ever sale of a private, pre-commercial biopharmaceutical company. Prior to Enobia, Dr. Heft held several senior positions with BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., Continental Pharma Cryosan, Inc. and IBEX Technologies, which he founded. Dr. Heft received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from McGill University and a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from Cornell University before obtaining his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in genetic engineering/radiological sciences. Dr. Heft currently is a member of the Board of Directors of several companies developing therapeutics for Orphan disorders.
Thomas J. Miller
Thomas J. Miller is the founder of GreyBird Ventures, an umbrella company for consulting, investment and management opportunities. Prior to founding GreyBird Ventures, Mr. Miller served in numerous executive roles, most recently as CEO of the Customer Solutions Division at Siemens Healthcare where he was responsible for all downstream activities regarding healthcare, IT and new services, managing 26,000 employees in more 130 countries. Mr. Miller has been featured in Diagnostic Imaging magazine in its cover story on “The 20 Most Influential People in Diagnostic Radiology”. After receiving a degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Miller earned a master’s degree in medical physics from the Harvard/MIT Health Sciences and Technology joint program. During his academic career, he worked at Los Alamos, the Swiss Institute for Nuclear Research (now the Paul Scherer Institute), Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Massachusetts General Hospital as a research associate in radiation biophysics.
Gene F. Pawlick
Gene Pawlick, MD, was recently the medical director at Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, Regional Reference Laboratories in Berkeley and Richmond, California. These laboratories comprise the largest reference clinical laboratory organization in the Kaiser Permanente system, performing more than 70 percent of all laboratory testing at Kaiser Permanente-Northern California. While there, he pioneered clinical studies in the area of cancer screening and diagnosis and has participated in related hearings at the FDA as a field expert. Dr. Pawlick earned his medical degree from Saint Louis University School of Medicine and completed his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco.
Dr. Heft, Mr. Miller and Dr. Pawlick join three existing VisionGate board members. Together, they will provide timely strategic counsel to VisionGate’s management and help guide the overall direction of the company.
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About VisionGate
VisionGate, Inc. is led by Dr. Alan Nelson, physicist, bioengineer and entrepreneur who developed the world’s first and only automated screening test to detect cervical cancer, marketed today as FocalPoint by Becton Dickinson. VisionGate offers the first automated 3D cell imaging platform, the Cell-CT, which computes high-resolution 3D biosignatures from intact cells. The company’s first implementation of the Cell-CT is the LuCED test, initially being developed as a CLIA lab developed test for adjunctive use with low dose x-ray computed tomography (LDCT) screening for the early detection of lung cancer in high-risk individuals. Adjunctive use of LuCED to better manage the high rate of false positive results in CT screening could increase the utility and cost effectiveness of the approach, which has been shown to decrease lung cancer deaths in high-risk patients. VisionGate is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and has a research and development office in Seattle, Washington. It currently holds 108 issued patents in 13 countries. For more information about VisionGate, please visit www.visiongate3d.com.
Media Contacts:
Shelley Parnell, VisionGate 602.354.8222/480.703.9268 (cell) parnell@visiongate3d.com