Talis Appoints Melissa L. Gilliam, M.D., M.P.H., to Board of Directors

MENLO PARK, Calif., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Talis Biomedical Corporation, a company dedicated to developing innovative molecular diagnostic tests for infectious diseases at the point-of-care, today announced the appointment of Melissa L. Gilliam, M.D., M.P.H., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Gilliam is the Ellen H. Block Professor of Health Justice and Vice Provost of the University of Chicago.

"As a practicing physician and academician with deep experience in women's health and reproductive and sexual health, Melissa is a valuable addition to our Board," said Brian Coe, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Talis. "As we prepare for the anticipated commercial launch of the COVID-19 molecular diagnostic assay for our Talis One™ platform and planned expansion of the test menu to include other infectious diseases, including sexually transmitted infections, her guidance will help us maximize the impact we can have in clinical care."

"Having spent my career dedicated to improving the health and well-being of women, adolescents and children, I know all too well that sexually transmitted infections are a major public health problem. Affecting millions of people worldwide, STIs cause serious illness and adversely impact people's quality of life," said Dr. Gilliam. "I believe Talis's technology and commitment to provide healthcare professionals with highly accurate and convenient diagnostic testing that enables faster and more informed clinical decisions at the point-of-care, positions Talis well to address this critical need. I look forward to sharing my insights and experience in academic medicine with my fellow Board members and the Talis team."

As Vice Provost at the University of Chicago, Dr. Gilliam leads university efforts on leadership, faculty development, faculty recruitment, and diversity and inclusion. She is also Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Professor of Pediatrics. She is the Founder and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation in Sexual and Reproductive Health (Ci3), which conducts research to improve the health, education, and wellbeing of adolescents. Dr. Gilliam began her career in academic medicine as an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she also served as Adjunct Faculty in the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health.

Dr. Gilliam earned a B.A. in English from Yale University, an M.A. in philosophy and politics from Oxford University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and an M.P.H. in epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University.

About the Talis One platform

The Talis One platform is a compact, sample-to-answer, cloud-enabled, molecular diagnostic solution that, once authorized for marketing, could be rapidly deployed to distributed diagnostic settings in the United States and around the world to diagnose infectious diseases at the point-of-care. The Talis One assays are based on a highly optimized nucleic acid isothermal amplification chemistry to achieve test performance faster than traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. The Talis One platform is designed for use in non-laboratory settings, such as physicians' offices, hospital emergency departments, urgent care clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, elder care/assisted living facilities, and cancer treatment and dialysis centers.

COVID-19 is the first infectious disease that the Talis One platform is designed to detect. Future infectious disease indications may include assays for other respiratory infections, such as influenza, as well as sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other infections impacting women's health. The Talis One platform, currently in development, is designed to be managed remotely, to send test results to a cloud database for secure transmission, storage and review, and to return results in approximately 25 minutes.

About Talis                                                                     

Talis is dedicated to transforming diagnostic testing by developing and commercializing innovative products that are designed to enable accurate, low cost and rapid molecular testing for infectious diseases at the point-of-care. The company is developing the Talis One platform, a compact, sample-to-answer, cloud-enabled, molecular diagnostic platform. Talis is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. For more information, please visit talis.bio.  

SOURCE Talis Biomedical Corporation

Related Links

https://talis.bio/