Bioinformatics pioneer joins 23andMe from Genentech
pharmafile | April 13, 2015 | Appointment | Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | 23andME, Genentech, Robert Gentleman
California-based personal genetics firm 23andMe has appointed Robert Gentleman to be its vice president of computational biology.
The company is on a big recruitment drive of late, and Gentleman joins it to focus on the exploration of how the human genetic and trait data in the firm’s database can be used to identify new therapies.
Most recently he served as senior director of bioinformatics and computational biology at Genentech.
“Dr. Gentleman is a trailblazer in his field,” says Andy Page, president, 23andMe. “A scientist of his caliber coming to the company speaks volumes about the rigorous scientific foundation 23andMe has built and the unique opportunity our data set provides to identify significant genetic discoveries.”
Gentleman’s career has spanned more than 30 years. Prior to joining Genentech, he was a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where he was the head of the Computational Biology Department. He also served as a professor at Harvard University, the University of Auckland, and the University of Waterloo.
Gentleman has been awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award, an award for Open Access in the Life Sciences presented by the Bioinformatics Organisation and is Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology.
“My hope is that my experience can help bring better treatments to market fast for the patients who need them most,” adds Gentleman.
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