Richard Roberts, PhD, to advise on molecular biology of traumatic
spinal cord injury
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InVivo Therapeutics Corporation, a medical device company focused on
restoring function in individuals paralyzed by traumatic spinal cord
injury, today announced that Richard Roberts, PhD, a Nobel Prize winning
scientist, has joined the firm's scientific
advisory board.
Roberts is Chief Scientific Officer at New England Biolabs, Inc., a
world leader in the production and supply of reagents for the life
science industry, located in Beverly, MA.
Frank Reynolds, InVivo founder and Chief Executive Officer, said: "I
am delighted to welcome Dr. Roberts to our scientific advisory board.
His demonstrated expertise in molecular biology will bring a valuable
new perspective to InVivo's work."
Educated in England, Roberts completed postdoctoral research at Harvard
University and later worked with James D. Watson, PhD, at Cold Spring
Harbor Laboratory, in New York State. Roberts is known for his work in
molecular and computational biology—and
especially for his pioneering use of computer methods and databases for
studying DNA and its component structures.
In 1993, he won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the
discovery that a given gene could be present in DNA as several,
well-separated segments. The discovery of "split
genes" has been of great importance to basic
biological and more medically-oriented research.
InVivo was founded in 2005 to develop cellular therapies for spinal cord
injuries, based on work initiated in the laboratories of Robert Langer,
PhD, and Yang (Ted) Teng, MD, PhD. Langer is Institute Professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Teng is associate professor of
neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. Both are InVivo founders and
members of the company's scientific advisory
board.
Langer said: "I am very pleased that Dr.
Roberts will be joining InVivo's scientific
advisory board. I look forward to working with such a distinguished
scientist."
Roberts said: "What I've
seen so far looks absolutely fascinating. I believe this work holds
great promise for the future. It is crucial that such work move from the
laboratory to the clinic because there is a desperate need to help
people with spinal cord injuries."
Every year, more than 170 thousand people worldwide are left paralyzed
by traumatic spinal cord injuries, according to US government
statistics. Although it is not currently possible to repair such
injuries, the InVivo team believes that by minimizing additional injury
to surrounding tissue and promoting new tissue growth, it will be able
to improve function in spinal cord injury patients, Reynolds said.
*
InVivo Therapeutics Corporation is a Cambridge, MA medical device
company focused on combining polymers and stem cells to restore function
in individuals paralyzed as a result of traumatic spinal cord injury.
The company was founded in 2005 on the basis of research initiated in
the laboratories of Robert Langer, PhD, of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. and Yang (Ted) Teng, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School.
