ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Lycera Corp., a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of breakthrough oral medicines to treat autoimmune disease and cancer based on the science of immune modulation, today announced the appointment of Harinder Singh, Ph.D., as chair of the company's scientific advisory board. Dr. Singh will lead the board's efforts to provide guidance and insight to advance Lycera's multiple ongoing research programs and pipeline of therapies targeting unmet needs in the treatment of autoimmune disease and cancer.
"Lycera's pioneering work in immune modulation requires a deep understanding of immunology and the role and impact of immune deregulation in human health. With his extensive experience in immunobiology, Dr. Singh will bring many essential perspectives and insights to our board," said Gary D. Glick, Ph.D., Lycera founder and chief scientific officer. "Under his leadership, our scientific advisory board is ideally positioned to provide us with the expert guidance we need to rapidly advance our development programs in the months ahead."
Dr. Singh has more than 25 years of scientific research and academic experience in the fields of molecular biology and immunology. He is currently Director of the Division of Immunobiology and the Center for Systems Immunology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. From 1989-2009, Dr. Singh was a faculty member in the Department of Molecular Genetics and an HHMI Investigator at the University of Chicago. He then moved to Genentech as Senior Director and Staff Scientist in the Department of Discovery Immunology and was an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California at San Francisco. Dr. Singh holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities at Punjab Agricultural University in India and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology from Northwestern University. He has served as Chair of the Basic Science Advisory Committee to the National Cancer Institute and has authored more than 90 research papers, review articles, and book chapters including publications in Nature, Science, Cell, Immunity and Nature Immunology. Dr. Singh's current research is focused on gene regulatory networks that orchestrate distinct effector states of innate and adaptive immune cells.
"The ability to restore balance and regulation to the human immune system has the potential to play a huge role in the treatment of many serious autoimmune diseases and cancers, and Lycera's leadership in this rapidly emerging area of research makes this a very attractive time to guide their efforts as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board. I am particularly excited about new tools and approaches drawn from systems biology that can be used to deepen insight into the functioning and modulation of the human immune system. I look forward to working closely with the outstanding team of chemists, immunologists and physicians at Lycera to advance their promising research with the potential to have a significant impact in improving treatment options for millions of patients in the years ahead," said Dr. Singh.
About Lycera
Lycera is a privately held biopharmaceutical company that seeks to uncover new small molecule therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. Our approach builds on an in-depth understanding of the orchestration of immune response in disease progression.
Lycera product development programs are enhanced by our established global relationships with many leading chemists, scientists and clinical researchers. We are currently advancing novel small molecule compounds from distinct, yet complementary, areas of research, including immune metabolism, cell signaling and immune cell differentiation. In addition to a robust proprietary pipeline, the company has an established research collaboration with Merck to discover, develop and commercialize small-molecule therapies for autoimmune disorders.
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SOURCE Lycera Corp.