Personal Genome Diagnostics Names Abigail McElhinny Senior Vice President of Research & Development, Operations

BALTIMORE, June 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc. (PGDx), a provider of advanced cancer genome testing products and services, today announced that Abigail McElhinny, PhD, has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Research & Development, Operations. Dr. McElhinny brings the company highly relevant experience in building and leading R&D teams developing new molecular assays. She joins from the Roche Group, where she most recently was Vice President of Assay and Reagent Development for Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. 

Doug Ward, Chief Executive Officer of PGDx, commented, "I had the pleasure of seeing Abby in action at Ventana, where she did an outstanding job of growing the R&D organization and mobilizing teams to successfully conduct ambitious programs to develop and market innovative molecular assays. She achieved the demanding goals for these programs on time and on budget, while displaying strong leadership and team building skills. This is an exciting period of growth at PGDx, and we are delighted to have Abby on board in this important new role."

For the past decade, Dr. McElhinny has held positions of increasing responsibility at Ventana Medical, rising from Senior Scientist to Project Leader and Senior Project Leader. She ultimately served as the vice president overseeing all chemistry and assay development for Ventana's BenchMark system and other next-generation platforms. In this position she doubled the size of her organization to approximately 200 product development employees, and represented Ventana on the PD-L1 Blueprint Project, a cross-industry initiative to inform the medical community on similarities and differences among PD-L1 immunohistochemistry diagnostic assays. In her prior positions at Ventana, Dr. McElhinny directed the development of multiple companion diagnostics, including coordinating the many processes and requirements needed for clinical trials and FDA approvals.

"I am honored and excited to join PGDx, an acknowledged world-class innovator in cancer genomics," noted Dr. McElhinny. "I look forward to working with the wealth of talent and expertise in the PGDx team and to building on the company's existing successes to make it the industry leader it has the potential to be."

Earlier in her career, Dr, McElhinny was a Senior Scientist at stem cell pioneer Aastrom, Inc., where she worked on cardiac tissue engineering projects. Dr. McElhinny earned a PhD in immunology/biochemistry at Northeastern University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cell biology at the University of Arizona.

PGDx is the only company offering a complete range of cancer genome analysis tools, including exome and targeted approaches for tissue specimens, targeted approaches for plasma samples and a variety of custom tissue and plasma-based options designed to address the specific research needs of cancer researchers and drug developers. It was established in 2010 by researchers from Johns Hopkins University who are pioneers in cancer genome sequencing and liquid biopsy technologies. Under the leadership of founders Drs. Luis Diaz and Victor Velculescu, the company has achieved consistent growth by successfully commercializing novel clinical and investigational products and services for researchers, drug developers, molecular testing laboratories and physicians and patients. PGDx's service offerings for researchers and testing labs are complemented by the clinical services it provides through its CLIA-certified laboratory. 

About Personal Genome Diagnostics
Personal Genome Diagnostics (PGDx) advances the frontiers of cancer medicine through innovative genomic technologies for oncology researchers, drug developers, clinicians and patients. The expert team at PGDx draws on a deep understanding of cancer biology, extensive experience in cancer genomics and clinical oncology, and the company's distinctive technologies.  These novel technologies precisely identify and characterize unique genomic alterations in tumors. PGDx is working toward broad patient access to its genomic approaches, through a CLIA-certified facility providing comprehensive genomic services, as well as a technology transfer solution enabling other molecular laboratories to easily internalize testing. For additional information, visit www.personalgenome.com.

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SOURCE Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc.