MicroIslet Announces Addition of New Members to Its Scientific Advisory Board
November 25 2005 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MicroIslet, Inc.
(AMEX:MII), announced today the appointment of new members to its
Scientific Advisory Board. With the addition of Dr. Nora E.
Sarvetnick, Dr. Athanassios Sambanis, and Dr. Bassam Damaj to the
advisory board, MicroIslet has enlisted a team of the world's
leading experts in islet transplantation therapy for patients with
diabetes to provide the Company with strategic guidance on product
development, preclinical and clinical study designs, and general
oversight of medical and scientific affairs. Other members of the
Scientific Advisory Board include Dr. James Shapiro, Director of
the Clinical Islet Transplant Program in Edmonton, Alberta Canada;
Dr. Daniel R. Salomon, Associate Professor at The Scripps Research
Institute and Director of the Center for Organ and Cell
Transplantation for Scripps Health; Dr. Jonathan RT Lakey,
Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of the Clinical Islet
Lab at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada; and Norma Sue
Kenyon, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Surgery, Medicine,
Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami School of
Medicine. Dr. Daniel R. Salomon, Chair of the MicroIslet Scientific
Advisory Board, stated, "The participation of these experts in
developing and assessing critical areas of science related to
MicroIslet's programs in islet transplantation and biomaterial
engineering significantly enhances the potential of MicroIslet and
contributes directly to the quality and success of the scientific
work underway." "The caliber of advisors attracted to the Company
adds credibility to our goal of becoming a leader in the field of
islet transplantation therapy for people with diabetes. We are
fortunate to have such a talented group of advisors," stated Dr.
Haro Hartounian, President and Chief Operating Officer of
MicroIslet. "We expect their guidance to expedite the development
of our lead product candidate." Following are brief biographies on
the members of the MicroIslet Scientific Advisory Board. Nora
Sarvetnick, Ph.D. Dr. Sarvetnick joined the faculty at The Scripps
Research Institute in 1990 as an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Neuropharmacology. She was promoted to Associate
Professor in 1994, and in 1996 was promoted to Associate Professor
with Tenure in the Department of Immunology. In 2000 she became a
full Professor in the Department of Immunology. Professor
Sarvetnick graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1978 with a
Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts. She received her Ph.D. in
Biochemistry in 1986, from The State University of New York, Stony
Brook. She received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Muscular
Dystrophy Association in 1986, and completed her postdoctoral
studies in 1990 at Genentech Inc. in the laboratory of Dr. T.A.
Stewart. She has over 140 peer reviewed publications and has
received a number of awards, which include a Career Development
Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (1990-1993) and a
Multidisciplinary Diabetes Program Project Award from the Juvenile
Diabetes Foundation (1995-2000). She has also twice been awarded an
American Diabetes Association Mentor-Based Postdoctoral Fellowship
Program Award (1996-2002 and 2005-2009). Her area of expertise is
in Immunology and Type 1 Diabetes. Athanassios Sambanis, Ph.D. Dr.
Sambanis received his BS in Chemical Engineering from the National
Technical University in Athens, Greece, and his Ph.D. in 1985, also
in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN. Following a two-and-a-half year post-doctoral
appointment at the MIT Biotechnology Process Engineering Center and
the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, he joined the
School of Chemical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of
Technology as Assistant Professor in 1989. He was promoted to
Associate Professor in 1995 and to Professor in 2002. He is a
Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological
Engineering and a Member of the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers and of the Tissue Engineering Society International. He
has co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications, has two patents
issued and several pending, and has given over 180 presentations at
national and international meetings. His research is currently
supported by NSF and NIH; prior support included the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation and the Whitaker Foundation. Bassam
Damaj, Ph.D. Dr. Damaj is President and Chief Executive Officer of
Bio-Quant, Inc., a company that seeks to translate scientific
discoveries into safer, more effective treatments for people with
immune and other life threatening diseases. Before joining
Bio-Quant, Dr. Damaj served as President and CEO of BioSignature
Diagnostics, Inc. He also served as the Group Leader for the Office
of New Target Intelligence and a Group Leader for multiple
immunological and inflammatory disease programs at Tanabe Research
Laboratories USA, Inc. Previous appointments included serving as a
senior scientist and a member of the senior staff board of the drug
discovery department at New Jersey-based Pharmacopeia Inc. He also
was a visiting scientist at Genentech Inc., Pfizer Inc. and the NIH
(NIAID). Dr. Damaj is the inventor of over 12 patents and authored
many peer reviewed publications. Dr. Damaj has also been a
consultant to many companies including General Atomics, Diazyme,
Genentech, Primedica, Celltek Biotechnologies, and Virocell. He is
the co-founder of Celltek Biotechnologies, Biosignature Diagnostics
and Mina Holdings. Dr. Damaj is the inventor of the AMT technology
that won a US Congressional award for the Anthrax Multiplex
Diagnostic Test. Daniel R. Salomon, M.D. Dr. Salomon is an
Associate Professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in the
Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine. He is the Co-
Director of the Center for Organ and Cell Transplantation for
Scripps Health. Dr. Salomon is a Special Government Employee for
the U.S. FDA and chaired the Biological Response Modifiers Advisory
Committee (BRMAC) from 1999 to 2003. He was also an original member
of the U.S. Secretary of Health's Xenotransplantation Advisory
Committee. For the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Salomon has
served as the Medical Monitor and Safety Officer for the Immune
Tolerance Network for Transplantation, Autoimmunity and Allergy,
and in the same capacity for the Cooperative Clinical Trials in
Adult and Pediatric Kidney Transplantation. He is presently the
Chair of the Steering Committee of the Islet Cell Resource
Consortium for the NIH National Center for Research Resources.
James Shapiro, M.D. Dr. Shapiro is the Director of the Clinical
Islet Transplant Program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton,
Canada. Dr. Shapiro's key contributions to the Clinical Islet
Transplant Program led to the development of the "Edmonton
Protocol" for clinical islet transplantation, which is currently
being evaluated in an international multi-centre study funded by a
grant from the Immune Tolerance Network of the National Institutes
of Health. Jonathan RT Lakey, Ph.D. Dr. Lakey is Director of the
Clinical Islet Laboratory and Director, Comprehensive Tissue Centre
for of the Comprehensive Tissue Centre Capital Health Authority. He
is also Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Alberta
in Edmonton. His research efforts have focused on cell and tissue
preservation and transplantation, with specific focus on the
isolation and survival of pancreatic islets for clinical
transplantation into patients with diabetes. His contributions and
partnership with Dr James Shapiro led towards the improvement of
islet isolation techniques and the "Edmonton Protocol" for patients
with Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Lakey has been awarded several
scholarships and research awards for his research achievements in
islet transplantation from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for
Medical Research (AHFMR), Canadian Diabetes Association and the
Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International (JDFI) and University
Hospital Foundation and Diabetes Wellness Foundation. Dr Lakey is
the co-director of the JDFI Centre in Edmonton and Director of the
JDFI Human Islet Distribution Program at the University of Alberta.
Dr Lakey sits editorial boards of several diabetes and
transplantation journals, reviews manuscripts for several journals
and a Councilor for Cell Transplant Society. Norma Sue Kenyon,
Ph.D. Dr. Kenyon is an Associate Professor of Surgery, Medicine,
Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami School of
Medicine. Dr. Kenyon serves as Associate Director for Research and
Program Development, Co-Director of the Cell Transplant Center,
Responsible Head of the Hematopoietic Cell Processing Facility, and
Director, Pre-Clinical Islet Cell Transplantation at the Diabetes
Research Institute. She was awarded the Martin Kleiman
Investigatorship for her research in islet cell transplantation.
Dr. Kenyon's translational research efforts are currently funded by
the National Institute of Allergy and Immunologic Diseases (NIAID)
and the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney
Diseases (NIDDK). The Company also announced that it filed a Form
8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 23,
2005 disclosing the matters approved at its annual meeting of
stockholders held November 17, 2005, including the adoption of the
Company's 2005 Equity Incentive Plan, and the notice of resignation
given by William G. Kachioff, the Company's Vice President, Finance
and Chief Financial Officer, effective December 26, 2005. The
Company stated that Mr. Kachioff's decision to resign was not the
result of any disagreement with the Company, known to any executive
officer of the Company, regarding any accounting or financial
reporting issues. The Company has commenced a search for a chief
financial officer to replace Mr. Kachioff. About MicroIslet Inc.
MicroIslet, Inc. is a biotechnology company engaged in the
research, development, and commercialization of patented
technologies in the field of transplantation therapy for patients
with insulin-dependent diabetes. MicroIslet's patented islet
transplantation technology, exclusively licensed from Duke
University, includes methods for isolating, culturing,
cryopreservation, and immuno-protection (microencupsulation) of
islet cells. MicroIslet plans to develop and commercialize a first
product, called MicroIslet-PTM, a microencapsulated porcine islet
cell suspension that will be used for transplantation in patients
with insulin-dependent diabetes. Additional information about the
Company can be found at http://www.microislet.com/. Except for the
historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in
this press release, including the expectation of development of the
Company's lead product candidate, are forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause
actual results to differ materially, including the risks and
uncertainties inherent in medical treatment discovery, development
and commercialization, the risks and uncertainties associated with
MicroIslet's early stage xenotransplantation technologies, the
risks and uncertainties of governmental approvals and regulation,
the Company's need to raise substantial additional capital to
execute its business plan, the risks that the Company's competitors
will develop or market technologies or products that are more
effective or commercially attractive than the Company's products,
and other risks detailed from time to time in MicroIslet's SEC
reports, including MicroIslet's Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB for
the quarter ended September 30, 2005. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date hereof. MicroIslet disclaims
any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking
statements. Contact: MicroIslet Inc. (858) 657-0287 DATASOURCE:
MicroIslet, Inc. CONTACT: MicroIslet Inc., +1-858-657-0287, Web
site: http://www.microislet.com/
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