Chelmsford, MA (October 9, 2019) – First Light Diagnostics, a developer of breakthrough automated products for rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective diagnosis of life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections, today announced the addition of Angela M. Caliendo, M.D., Ph.D., to the company’s world-class, international Clinical Advisory Board.
“Angie’s expertise and deep research experience in the development of diagnostic tests for detection and quantification of infectious diseases make her an important voice on our Advisory Board,” said David Macdonald, CEO of First Light Diagnostics. “We look forward to working closely with her and the rest of our Advisory Board as we continue our commercialization efforts.”
Dr. Caliendo is an Editor for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, a member of the Board of Directors for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Academy of Microbiology. She is currently a Professor and the Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Caliendo has published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts covering various topics in clinical and diagnostic virology and microbiology and was a recent recipient of the Ed Nowakowski Senior Memorial Clinical Virology Award from the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology and the BD Award for Research in Clinical Microbiology from the American Society for Microbiology.
“I look forward to offering my insights as part of the First Light Diagnostics Clinical Advisory Board,” said Dr. Caliendo. “The hope is for First Light’s proprietary technology to rapidly detect and identify infectious pathogens and rapidly evaluate antimicrobial susceptibility (AST) at the onset of infection without culture, which will impact patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs and reduce antimicrobial resistance.”
Using primary patient samples directly without a culture step, First Light’s MultiPath technology delivers breakthrough acceleration in delivering AST results, enabling clinicians to get the patient on the optimal targeted, narrow-spectrum therapy at the onset of their infection. With pathogen identification in 30 minutes and AST results in just four hours, the MultiPath easy to use, automated benchtop analyzer provides rapid results, high throughput and continuous random access. Using the MultiPath platform, clinicians will be able to administer the most effective targeted therapy during the onset of multi-drug resistant infection versus waiting several days for results.
Dr. Caliendo joins a broad, global collection of industry luminaries with years of expertise combatting infectious diseases. This world-class advisory group is tasked with guiding the company through its development and commercialization.
About First Light Diagnostics
First Light Diagnostics is developing and preparing to commercialize, innovative diagnostic products for rapid, sensitive and cost-saving detection of life-threatening infections, and for combating the spread of antibiotic resistance. Don Straus is the company’s Founder and primary inventor of the company’s core scientific technology. Based on its proprietary MultiPath™ detection technology, First Light’s products combine the clinical performance of the most advanced commercial laboratory tests with speed, cost-effectiveness, and ease-of-use. The tests rapidly detect infections, identify infectious agents, and determine effective targeted antibiotic therapy. This will improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and prevent inappropriate use of powerful antibiotics. To learn more, please visit: www.firstlightdx.com
David Macdonald
President and CEO
First Light Diagnostics
dmacdonald@firstlightdx.com
Mobile: (858) 997-9641
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