Biotechnology company Discovery Life Sciences has named Thomas Halsey executive VP of genomics for its HudsonAlpha Discovery division, the company said in a press release Thursday.
Halsey, who has a doctorate in microbiology, was most recently the senior director and global head of genomic laboratory operations at Q2 Solutions. In this role, Halsey led worldwide genomic research efforts at labs across Europe, China and the Asia-Pacific region.
“This is a unique opportunity to build upon a world-class genomics organization by working with our team to expand and grow the scope of our services in key markets geographically,” Halsey said in the release. “I have long admired Discovery and am inspired by the interesting synergies that it has created. We have the largest commercial biospecimen bank in the world, with samples that are critical toward moving precision medicine forward, in combination with a broad range of other leading biomarker laboratory services."
In his new position, Halsey will be involved in planning and management for the global expansion of Discovery's genomics testing, which supports clinical trial research use of in-vitro diagnostics, which in turn will expedite the development of targeted therapies and precision medicine, the company said.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tom to Discovery during this exciting time in our company's growth,” Chief Scientific Officer Shawn Levy, who has a doctorate in biochemistry, said in the release. “He is an experienced leader who brings global operational expertise in genomic technologies that will be instrumental in advancing the expansion of our biomarker development capabilities and the deployment of sequencing technologies to support global clinical trials, diagnostic validation and determination of clinical utility.”
Discovery Life Sciences, based in Huntsville, Ala., is a global market leader in biospecimen analysis, procurement, and distribution for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics industries, the company said on its website.
HudsonAlpha Discovery is the company’s sequencing and bioinformatics division, “a globally recognized service laboratory that leverages the most current genomic research technologies to comprehensively support discovery, translational and clinical research,” the company said in the release.