Dr Peterson will lead research programmes to identify drug targets, biomarkers by leveraging unparalleled access to South Asian cohorts, disease phenotypes
MedGenome, a genomics-driven research and diagnostics company, recently announced the appointment of Dr Andrew Peterson as its Chief Scientific Officer. Dr Peterson will lead the company’s research programmes to identify drug targets and biomarkers by leveraging its unparalleled access to South Asian cohorts and disease phenotypes. Its large network of collaborations with hospitals across India has enabled MedGenome to create a research platform to tap into thousands of patient records with oncology, auto-immune, metabolic and rare disease diagnoses. The platform capabilities are amplified by MedGenome’s high-throughput genomics sequencing and data analysis/interpretation capabilities. Dr Peterson will also be instrumental in strengthening the organisation’s capabilities and capacities to perform and execute large scale genomics research projects.
Prior to joining MedGenome, Dr Peterson was Senior Director of Molecular Biology at Genentech, primarily focussed on genomics applications for therapeutic interventions in areas such as cardiovascular diseases and liver diseases, resulting in molecules in clinical development.
“I am very excited to have joined the team at MedGenome. It is an organisation that is pushing the envelope in leveraging South Asian population genetic value for drug discovery and biomarker identification and I am looking forward to helping the organisation to scale this in a meaningful manner,” said Dr Peterson on his appointment.
Dr Peterson has also led the scientific efforts of a consortium that produced a comprehensive catalogue of genetic variation across Asia as part of GenomeAsia 100K consortium. These efforts led to the development of imputation tools for South Asian genomes based on 30X WGS from >8,000 individuals. The project is advancing to catalogue the coding variation in more than 35,000 genomes using a combination of WGS and exome data, so that custom SNP arrays as well as imputation could be called upon in the design of genetic studies in South Asians.
“We are glad to welcome Andy as CSO of MedGenome. His leadership will enable us to partner with Pharma and Biotech companies to enable genetic research studies into complex human diseases, otherwise intractable by conventional genetic analysis. We are convinced that with our team, we will enable new therapies that will have global impact. We plan to spin-off the data to drugs division into a new company next year,” said Sam Santhosh, Founder and Chairman, MedGenome.