BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FDNA, developer of the Face2Gene suite of next-generation phenotyping (NGP) applications, announces at the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics annual meeting the appointment of Dr. Karen Gripp to Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Peter Krawitz to Chief Data Science Officer. With this expansion in leadership, FDNA continues to strengthen its position as a global leader in using artificial intelligence to promote precision medicine.
Together, through their combined clinical, research and development experience, Dr. Gripp and Dr. Krawitz will elevate the use and proven success of NGP technologies that capture, structure, and interpret complex physiological information, to improve our understanding of genetics and its impact on health.
“We are thrilled to welcome two highly experienced and knowledgeable professionals within the fields of clinical and molecular genetics,” said Dekel Gelbman, CEO of FDNA. “We look forward to building a new standard of care and enabling precision medicine on a global level.”
In addition to her role at FDNA, Dr. Gripp is the Chief of the Division of Medical Genetics at the AI duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, DE, and is a Professor of Pediatrics at the S. Kimmel Medical College at T. Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. With more than fifteen years of experience, Dr. Gripp is a physician with board certification in pediatrics, clinical genetics, and clinical molecular genetics. Her research interests include RASopathies, craniofacial disorders, novel syndrome delineation, and identification of disease genes. At FDNA, Dr. Gripp will implement her clinical expertise and immense breadth of scientific knowledge to promote FDNA’s NGP technologies and enhance the company’s role as a global leader in clinical genomics.
“FDNA has set the industry standard for deep phenotyping technology,” said Dr. Gripp. “I’m excited to join such a rapidly growing and innovative team at the forefront of advancing precision medicine that is paving the way to significantly reducing the diagnostic odyssey so many patients face.”
Dr. Krawitz also serves as Director of the Institute for Genomic Statistics and Bioinformatics at the University of Bonn in Germany. Through the use of artificial intelligence in the analysis of big genomic data, his research aims to deepen the understanding of genome biology and advance personalized medicine. At FDNA, Dr. Krawitz will identify and explore high-impact and original research fields to further the development and use of NGP technologies, and will drive the research efforts to create new knowledge that serves to expand the field of genetics.
Additionally, Dr. Krawitz is conducting a global study - Prioritization of Exome Data by Image Analysis (PEDIA). This study quantifies the impact NGP technologies have in interpreting next-generation sequencing (NGS) data. Interim results from this study already show that, through combining NGP technologies, clinical annotations, and NGS data, the correct diagnosis ranked first 81 percent of the time, compared to the typical 25 percent diagnostic yield of NGS data alone. The complete study is on track to publish later this year. Phase II of the PEDIA study focuses on a set of phenotypic characteristic scoring profiles derived for disease genes. These profiles are being applied to identify the disease-causing genetic variants for a set of disorders for which a typical facial phenotype has been described, but no molecular cause is known. This set is also referred to as “PEDIA2 disorders.”
“Next-generation phenotyping technologies are enabling advanced uses of genomic data for precision medicine,” said Dr. Krawitz. “In this new role, I’m looking forward to exploring the possibilities for FDNA’s NGP technologies to elevate genomics to a whole new standard of care.”
About FDNA and Face2Gene
FDNA is the developer of Face2Gene, a suite of next-generation phenotyping applications that facilitates comprehensive and precise genetic evaluations. Face2Gene uses facial analysis, deep learning and artificial intelligence to transform big data into actionable genomic insights to improve and accelerate diagnostics and therapeutics. With the world’s largest network of clinicians, labs and researchers creating one of the fastest growing and most comprehensive genomic databases, FDNA is changing the lives of patients with genetically caused diseases. For more information, visit www.FDNA.com. Face2Gene is a registered trademark of FDNA INC.
