Invitrogen Corporation Taps Renowned Stem Cell Expert Mahendra Rao, MD, Ph.D. to Lead New Research Area
Monday April 10, 8:00 am ET
Company Transforms Group of Highly-Utilized Products into Stem Cell Platform
CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2006--Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN - News) today announced it has named former NIH stem cell section chief Mahendra Rao, MD, Ph.D. Vice President, Research, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine. In this role, Dr. Rao will lead the research efforts for Invitrogen's recently formed Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine business. Invitrogen's efforts in regenerative medicine provide support technologies for applications across the range of nearly all forms of stem cell research.
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"Adding a researcher of Dr. Rao's caliber creates a significant new dimension to our already robust stem cell efforts," explained Claude Benchimol, Ph.D., Invitrogen's Senior Vice President of Research and Development. "Dr. Rao's leadership will enable our company's technology portfolio to grow and adapt as stem cell therapies become more prevalent in modern medicine."
A true luminary, Dr. Rao has published more than 100 papers on stem cell research in his time as both scientist and educator. Most recently, he served as Section Chief for Stem Cells and Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Neuroscience for the National Institute on Aging--a division of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Rao also has an extensive background teaching medical and graduate students, as well as postdoctorate fellows at institutions such as Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, India and the University of Utah School of Medicine. He holds an M.D. from Bombay University in India and a Ph.D. in developmental neurobiology from the California Institute of Technology.
"I am truly excited about the opportunity to help shape Invitrogen's role in the field of regenerative medicine," said Dr. Rao. "The company has a firm foundation in supporting research and has enabled many of the advances made to this point. As the discipline progresses, it will continue to provide the keys that move scientists closer to the promise of these cellular therapies."
Invitrogen offers more than 1,200 products for the purification, culture, verification, differentiation and analysis of both adult and embryonic stem cells. These technologies address every element of the stem cell research workflow and have been in use at a number of major scientific institutions--including comprising a majority of the products used in the NIH's stem cell protocols. The company has built a team of more than 20 researchers dedicated solely to stem cell work and has also created a number of education initiatives, supporting training courses around the world.
"Invitrogen has been a catalyst for some of the most significant advances in life science," concluded Gregory T. Lucier, Invitrogen's Chairman and CEO. "Now, stem cell medicine stands poised to make the next impact on the human condition and Invitrogen will once again provide the way to discovery."
BIO 2006:
Dr. Rao will be participating in a panel entitled:
Emerging Opportunities in Embryonic Stem Cell Medicine
9:15 - 10:45 AM CDT
Monday, April 10, 2006
Room Number: 427BC, McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago,
Ill.
Additionally, Joydeep Goswami, Ph.D., Invitrogen's Vice President,
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine will be participating in a
panel entitled:
New Developments in California's Stem Cell Gold Rush
2-3:30 p.m. CDT
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Room Number: 427BC, McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago,
Ill.
About Invitrogen Corporation
Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN - News) provides products and services that support academic and government research institutions and pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide in their efforts to improve the human condition. The company provides essential life science technologies for disease research, drug discovery, and commercial bioproduction. Invitrogen's own research and development efforts are focused on breakthrough innovation in all major areas of biological discovery including functional genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and cell biology -- placing Invitrogen's products in nearly every major laboratory in the world. Founded in 1987, Invitrogen is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, and conducts business in more than 70 countries around the world. The company globally employs approximately 4,800 professionals and had revenues of more than $1.2 billion in 2005. For more information, visit www.invitrogen.com. |
