Evelo Biosciences Establishes Scientific Advisory Board

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Evelo Biosciences, the pioneer of Oncobiotic™ Therapies, microbiome-based therapeutics for cancer, today announced the establishment of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The newly appointed SAB will serve as a strategic resource for Evelo as the company advances the development of its therapeutic platform.

"We are proud to welcome members of the SAB to the Evelo team," said Simba Gill, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Evelo. "The diverse expertise of this group underscores the highly interdisciplinary approach we are taking to decipher the cancer microbiome and develop important new treatments for patients with cancer."

The founding members of Evelo's SAB include seven renowned translational scientists, scientific thought leaders and world-class clinicians in oncology and the microbiome, including: Professor Thomas F. Gajewski, Ph.D., M.D., Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Chicago; Wendy Garrett, Ph.D., M.D., the Melvin J. and Geraldine L. Glimcher Associate Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Curtis Huttenhower, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Jim Collins, Ph.D., the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science and Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT; Sangeeta Bhatia, M.D., Ph.D., John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor at MIT's Institute of Medical Engineering and Science and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Matthew Vander Heiden, the Eisen and Chang Associate Professor in the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and the Department of Biology at MIT; and Christian Jobin, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Thomas F. Gajewksi, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Gajewski, investigates and develops new treatments for cancer patients. He pursues both basic laboratory research on T cell regulation and anti-tumor immune responses, and also clinical trials of immunotherapies and other interventions in patients with cancer. Dr. Gajewski has published more than 200 articles on these subjects, and leads an extremely active research program. Additionally, Dr. Gajewski's seminal work in the cancer microbiome space demonstrated a therapeutic link between the gut microbiota and immune control of tumors in preclinical immune-oncology models.

Wendy Garrett, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Garrett's research focuses interplay between the gastrointestinal immune system and the gut microbiota in health, inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Her research in mucosal immunology focuses on how the gut microbiota influence both innate and adaptive populations and contribution of these cells to immune homeostasis and disease. Dr. Garrett has identified both specific species, pathways, and metabolites produced by the microbiota that influence health and disease states.

Curtis Huttenhower, Ph.D.
Dr. Huttenhower's research focuses on the understanding the function of microbial communities in human health and disease through computational method development, biological analyses and laboratory experiments. His lab worked extensively with the NIH Human Microbiome Project to help develop the first comprehensive map of the healthy Western adult microbiome. Dr. Huttenhower received an NSF Career award in 2010 for his research on microbial communities, was awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2012, and awarded the Overton Prize from the International Society for Computational Biology in 2015.

Jim Collins, Ph.D.
Dr. Collins is one of the founders of the emerging field of synthetic biology, and a pioneering researcher in systems biology, having made fundamental discoveries regarding the actions of antibiotics and the development of antibiotic resistance. His scientific accomplishments have been recognized by numerous awards, including the NIH Director's Pioneer Award, the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award in Aging and the inaugural Anthony J. Drexel Exceptional Achievement Award. Professor Collins is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors.

Sangeeta Bhatia, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Bhatia is a cancer researcher and biotech entrepreneur who trained as both a physician and engineer. Dr. Bhatia's laboratory is dedicated to leveraging miniaturization tools from the world of semiconductor manufacturing to impact human health. Her multidisciplinary team has developed a broad and impactful range of inventions, including micro livers that model human drug metabolism, liver disease, and interaction with pathogens, as well as a suite of nanomaterials that can diagnose, monitor, and treat cancer and other diseases. She consults for industry, government and academia, and advocates for diversity in STEM. Dr. Bhatia has received multiple honors including the Lemelson-MIT Prize and the Heinz Award and is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Science.

Matt Vander Heiden, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Vander Heiden is the Eisen and Chang Associate Professor in the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and the Department of Biology at MIT. He is also an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and an Instructor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Vander Heiden's research focuses on the role of metabolism in cancer, and particularly how metabolic pathways support cancer cell proliferations and survival. Using a combination of biochemistry, molecular biology and mouse models, the aim of the Vander Heiden laboratory is to understand how metabolism influences different stages of tumor biology with a goal to improve cancer treatment in the clinic.

Christian Jobin, Ph.D.
Dr. Jobin focuses on the human microbiome/host interaction and ensuing innate and immunological responses during health and disease. Using mice and zebrafish housed in germ-free and gnotobiotic conditions, microbiome techniques, Dr. Jobin studies the differential contribution of bacteria in protecting or exacerbating development of colitis and colorectal cancer. Dr. Jobin has contributed to the understanding of the molecular mechanism regulating host response to bacterial colonization, and has published numerous papers on innate signaling events taking place in the intestine and how these impact intestinal homeostasis.

About Evelo Biosciences

Evelo Biosciences is dedicated to transforming cancer therapy through a deep understanding of the cancer microbiome. Evelo is discovering and developing Oncobiotic™ therapies, novel treatments designed to attack cancer by disrupting the microbial environment that supports tumors and protects them from the body's immune system. Evelo's platform disrupts the tumor microenvironment at the metabolic and stromal levels and provides next-generation, microbiome-based immunotherapeutics. Founded by Flagship VentureLabs^® in 2014, Evelo is the first microbiome company focused on cancer. It is financed through a $35 million commitment from Flagship Ventures. For more information, please visit http://www.evelobio.com/.

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