Caris Diagnostics Names New Vice Chairman and Board Member, Dr. Jonathan Knowles
IRVING, Texas, and PHOENIX, Arizona; December 16th, 2009 – Caris Diagnostics™ – a leading provider of integrated anatomic pathology and oncology testing services, including molecular profiling and hematopathology, announced that Professor Jonathan Knowles, PhD, has joined its Board of Directors as of September 1, 2009 and accepted the position of Vice Chairman starting on January 1, 2010. In these capacities, Dr. Knowles will provide scientific and strategic guidance, will support the identification and expansion of R&D opportunities, and will assist with the development of Caris’ international presence.
Dr. Knowles’ appointments to these positions continues a distinguished career that has spanned decades in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry, including most recently his role as President of Group Research at Roche, a position he held since 2007, and member of that organization’s Corporate Executive Committee since 1998. “Jonathan brings a unique combination of scientific expertise and business savvy that will contribute significantly to Caris as we further establish ourselves as the industry leader in personalized healthcare,” said Caris Chairman and CEO David D. Halbert. “His leadership and expertise will play a critical role in our organization’s development of the most effective, cutting-edge molecular diagnostic services and our efforts to make those tools available to all of the physicians and patients who stand to benefit from them.”
Dr. Knowles was a member of the Genentech Board for the last 12 years and a member of the Chugai Board for seven years. Dr. Knowles was also the chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee of Genentech. He was for 5 years the Chairman of the Research Directors’ Group of EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations) and was the first chairman of the Board of the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a unique public-private partnership between 28 Pharmaceutical companies and the European Commission with a budget of more than 2 Billion Euros over five years. Dr. Knowles focused the company on key disease biology areas of high medical need and in-depth understanding of molecular pathology of disease. Under his leadership, the company developed and implemented a strategy of highly effective therapies based on personalized healthcare and built one of the best pharma pipelines in the sector.
“I am delighted to join the team of dedicated and knowledgeable professionals at Caris,” said Dr. Knowles. “By working together at the cutting edge of diagnostic science, I am confident that we will accelerate the delivery of the highest-quality, personalized medicine that will save the lives of many cancer patients.”
Dr. Knowles attended Magdalen College School in Oxford and received a First Class Honours Degree in Molecular Genetics from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics of Mitochondria with Professor G. H. Beale F.R.S. from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Jonathan Knowles has been recently appointed a Professor of Translational Medicine at EPFL in Switzerland, has been awarded a Distinguished Professorship in Personalized Health care at the Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Helsinki, and has been appointed as to a Visiting chair at the University of Oxford. In addition, he is a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization and a William Pitt Fellow of Pembroke College Cambridge.