Foundation Medicine Appoints Molecular Diagnostics Industry Leader Maureen T. Cronin, Ph.D., as Senior Vice President of Research and Product Development

In this role, Dr. Cronin will lead the development and advancement of the company’s tests, which are being designed to enable personalized cancer treatment.

“I am thrilled to join the Foundation Medicine team to help drive the development of innovative tests that will truly enable personalized cancer care for patients”

Dr. Cronin joins Foundation Medicine from Genomic Health, Inc., where she spent nine years leading research and product development efforts in molecular diagnostics and oncology personalized medicine. Most recently, as vice president, translational research, she led research efforts to support development of clinical diagnostic tests for specific clinical indications based on genomic biomarkers.

“We are pleased to announce Dr. Cronin’s addition to our team as Foundation Medicine further advances development of comprehensive diagnostic tests to enable personalized treatment for patients living with cancer,” said Alexis Borisy, chief executive officer, Foundation Medicine. “Dr. Cronin’s expertise in translational science, molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine, as well as her passion for improving cancer patient care, are ideally suited to Foundation Medicine as we prepare to bring our innovative cancer diagnostic solutions into routine clinical practice.”

Foundation Medicine was launched in April 2010 and is focused on developing clinical laboratory tests – using next generation sequencing and other advanced technologies – that will broadly analyze the relevant tumor genomic and other molecular information present in individual patients’ cancers. The results will be delivered to oncologists in an easily accessible format, within the context of a growing knowledge base of published clinical data to help oncologists personalize treatment. The company’s founding academic advisors – from the Broad Institute, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – are world leaders in the fields of cancer genomics, cancer biology, clinical oncology and information sciences. They, alongside biotechnology and molecular diagnostics industry leaders, possess the multi-disciplinary expertise required to bring cancer genomics into the routine practice of medicine.

“I am thrilled to join the Foundation Medicine team to help drive the development of innovative tests that will truly enable personalized cancer care for patients,” said Dr. Cronin. “This is an exciting time to be working in cancer genomics and translational science, and Foundation Medicine represents an unprecedented opportunity to harness today’s available technology in a way that really impacts how physicians treat an individual’s cancer to affect meaningful improvements in their health. As a scientist, that is incredibly powerful.”

Dr. Cronin’s industry career spans more than 20 years at biotechnology companies dedicated to translational science and genomic applications, where she has worked in all aspects of research and development of clinical diagnostic tests based on genomic biomarkers. Prior to her tenure at Genomic Health, Dr. Cronin worked at ACLARA BioSciences, where she was senior director, applied genomics, and led a team responsible for initiating a range of DNA and RNA based genetic and genomic applications using the company’s proprietary microanalysis platform of core technologies. Earlier in her career, Dr. Cronin spent seven years at Affymetix, a photolithographic DNA microarray company, where she managed contract research programs focused on developing hybridization array assays for specific genomics applications with corporate partners including Hewlett Packard Bioscience Products, Roche Molecular Systems and GlaxoWellcome.

Dr. Cronin has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed publications including The Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, Clinical Chemistry and The Journal of Managed Care, and has received a number of academic awards, honors and fellowships including the NIH/NIDA, SIBIR Phase I, Phase II and STTR awards. She received her B.S. and M.S. from the University of California, Davis, Department of Animal Physiology, and her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, UCSD School of Medicine.