ViaCyte Appoints Stem Cell Therapy Expert Dr. Timothy Kieffer as Chief Scientific Officer
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ViaCyte, Inc., an innovator in cellular therapy and regenerative medicine, today announced the appointment of Timothy Kieffer, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Kieffer will bring his deep knowledge of gene and cell therapies, regenerative medicine, diabetes applied research, and industry experience to lead ViaCyte's scientific team focused on delivering and commercializing clinical interventions for diabetes.
"Tim is a global thought leader and one of the foremost experts in developing stem cell-based therapies for treatment of diabetes," said Michael Yang, Chief Executive Officer, ViaCyte. "His widely recognized expertise in the field and his innovation mindset will help propel our scientific strategy forward as we advance our portfolio of islet replacement therapies for diabetes and expand the platform to other therapeutic indications."
"I am excited to join ViaCyte at this important moment, building on the impressive progress the team has made toward finding a functional cure for diabetes," said Dr. Kieffer. "ViaCyte is a leader in the regenerative medicine field with its stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy portfolio, and I look forward to partnering with my new colleagues to deliver on the mission to relieve people with diabetes from the burden of managing insulin injections along with increased risk of developing complications."
Dr. Kieffer joins ViaCyte from the University of British Columbia, where he oversaw the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Medicine with a focus on the development of novel gene and cell therapy approaches to treat diabetes. Dr. Kieffer holds patents in the field and has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications that collectively have been cited more than 20,000 times. He co-founded enGene, a biotech developing non-viral gene therapies. He received his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of British Columbia and completed his post-doctoral training in Molecular Endocrinology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kieffer received the Diabetes Canada Young Scientist Award and was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Previously, he spent a year on sabbatical at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, Japan.
About ViaCyte
ViaCyte is a privately held clinical-stage regenerative medicine company developing novel cell replacement therapies based on two major technological advances: cell replacement therapies derived from pluripotent stem cells and medical device systems for cell encapsulation and implantation. ViaCyte has the opportunity to use these technologies to address critical human diseases and disorders that can potentially be treated by replacing lost or malfunctioning cells or proteins. The Company's first product candidates are being developed as potential long-term treatments for patients with type 1 diabetes to achieve glucose control targets and reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and diabetes-related complications. To accelerate and expand the Company's efforts, ViaCyte has established collaborative partnerships with leading companies, including CRISPR Therapeutics and W.L. Gore & Associates. ViaCyte is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, please visit www.viacyte.com and connect with ViaCyte on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
SOURCE ViaCyte, Inc.
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