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C. Thomas Caskey Will Direct Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center

Posted on: Friday, 6 January 2006, 12:00 CST

HOUSTON, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- C. Thomas Caskey, M.D., has been appointed director and CEO-elect of the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM), part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Caskey was founding director of Houston-based Cogene Biotech Ventures and Cogene Ventures, venture capital funds supporting early-stage biotechnology and life sciences companies. The fund, founded in March 2000, invests in companies that utilize genome technology to enable drug discovery in high growth therapeutic specialties such as cancer, neurology and the metabolic diseases of obesity and diabetes.

"Dr. Caskey is a distinguished scientist with a highly respected record of accomplishment in his research field, as well as success in his private-sector enterprises," said UT Health Science Center President James T. Willerson, M.D. "In his new role, Dr. Caskey will be the leader responsible for daily management of the IMM, as well as developing research programs and recruiting additional world-class scientists to our institution."

Since 2004, Caskey has served as an adjunct professor and an original member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the IMM.

"Dr. Caskey's appointment comes at a critically important time, when the UT Health Science Center has raised nearly $200 million in its New Frontiers Campaign, chaired by Beth Robertson and co-chaired by Ben Love, and will open the new Fayez S. Sarofim Research Building by this summer," Willerson said.

Caskey has received numerous academic and industry-related honors. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. He has served as president of American Society of Human Genetics, the Human Genome Organization and The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST).

He previously served as senior vice president for human genetics and vaccines discovery at Merck Research Laboratories from 1994 to 2000 and as president of the Merck Genome Research Institute from 1998 to 2000.

His genetic research documented the universality of the genetic code, discovered the mechanism of peptide chain termination, identified the genetic basis of 10 major heritable diseases, opened the understanding of triplet repeat diseases (Fragile X, myotonic dystrophy and others), developed the STR method of DNA-based personal identification (now used worldwide) for forensic studies, and developed a viral vector vaccine for HIV.

He received the Distinguished Texas Geneticist Award from the Texas Genetics Society in 1998 and serves on Texas Governor Rick Perry's Council on Science and Biotechnology, which makes funding recommendations for the $200 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund.

He served on the Intramural Human Genome Projects Special Review Committee, the National Institutes of Health, on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Medical Association and Science and as editor of the Annual Review of Medicine. He has been a member of many medical societies and advisory boards throughout his career.

Caskey earned his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine and his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina. He is Board certified in Internal Medicine, Clinical Genetics, Metabolic Diseases and Molecular Diagnostics.

He serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Molecular & Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.

He also serves on the boards of several corporations, including Lexicon Genetics, Argolyn Bioscience, Inc., MDS Inc., Odyssey Thera, and Envivo. He is a director of the Washington Advisory Group, which provides management and strategy consulting services for clients in academia, information technology, bio-technology, healthcare, manufacturing and natural resources.

The Brown Foundation IMM is a research institute that seeks to investigate the cause of human diseases at the cellular and molecular levels using DNA and protein technologies to elucidate disease mechanisms. Nobel Laureate Ferid Murad, M.D., Ph.D., the John S. Dunn, Sr. Distinguished University Chair in Physiology and Medicine, continues as the institute's director and as director of its Research Center for Cell Signaling. Murad will lead a new institutional advisory board made up of selected IMM faculty and community leaders.

Irma Gigli, M.D., currently is deputy director and director of the Center for Immunology and Autoimmune Diseases.

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com/ .

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

CONTACT: Scott Merville of University of Texas Health Science Center atHouston, +1-713-500-3042, or +1-713-500-3030, or scott.merville@uth.tmc.edu

Web site: http://www.uthouston.edu/

Source: PRNewswire

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