Second Genome Appoints Karim Dabbagh, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Second Genome, Inc., a leader in the development of novel medicines through innovative microbiome science, announced today that it has appointed Karim Dabbagh, Ph.D., as the company's Chief Scientific Officer. In this new position, Dr. Dabbagh will be responsible for the company's drug pipeline, fueled by Second Genome's novel discovery platform for identifying and validating microbiome-mediated drug targets and therapeutics. 

"Karim joins Second Genome at an exciting time for the company, as we scale our platform and drug development activities in a range of therapeutic areas," said Peter B. DiLaura, President and CEO of Second Genome. "Karim has been exploring the relationship between disease and the microbiome for many years and will help us continue our efforts to translate microbiome research into novel medicines."

Added Dr. Dabbagh, "The microbiome is one of the most exciting areas in drug discovery today.  Second Genome has built a unique platform to understand the critical mechanistic interactions between the microbiome and the human host. This gives us a transformational opportunity to redefine disease and develop treatments in a wide range of indications with profound unmet need."

While at Pfizer, Dr. Dabbagh led the immunoregulation department, a R&D group focused on innovative approaches to elicit homeostatic immune responses, including microbiome research, for the treatment of immune related disorders. In addition, Dr. Dabbagh led external R&D innovation for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.  Prior to joining Pfizer, he was the Founder of Modus BioMedicine, a start-up biotechnology company focused on treatments for transplantation and autoimmune disease.  Before that, he spent nine years at Roche Pharmaceuticals in multiple positions, including Head of Inflammation Discovery Research Pharmacology. Dr. Dabbagh received his doctorate in biochemistry from University College, London, and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at University of California, San Francisco, and at Stanford University.  He received a bachelor's degree in biotechnology from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London.

About Second Genome
Second Genome's mission is to transform lives with medicines developed through innovative microbiome science. Second Genome has built a novel platform for microbiome drug discovery.  The company has established a pipeline of therapeutic products for the treatment of inflammation and metabolic diseases. Please visit www.secondgenome.com for more information.

SOURCE Second Genome