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CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 20 /PRÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵAPPwire/ -- Genstruct, Inc., a knowledge-driven discovery company using systems biology to discover biomarkers that increase the effectiveness of drug discovery and development, today announced that Alan Williamson, Ph.D. has joined its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The company has also appointed Charlie Lieu as director of Business Development and Marketing.

"The pharmaceutical industry is beginning to embrace systems biology, and interest in Genstruct's causal modeling approach is intensifying," said Keith O. Elliston, Ph.D., president and CEO of Genstruct. "To develop the programs and alliances that are central to Genstruct's success, we need leadership with strong pharma experience and strong entrepreneurial spirit. As a Merck alum myself, I am excited to have both Alan and Charlie on board. I have known Alan since the days we both worked on the Merck Gene Index Project, and his vast experience in drug discovery and entrepreneurship will help us to continue developing strategic relationships with pharmaceutical partners. Charlie also brings both pharma and entrepreneurial experience to Genstruct, ranging from technology licensing at Merck and marketing at Rosetta Inpharmatics. Her understanding of the pharma licensing perspective will no doubt prove extremely valuable as we grow our partnerships. With these additions, we continue to build a strong team of industry experts with proven track records that will ensure our success."

Dr. Alan Williamson

Dr. Williamson has more than 35 years in the biology field. He is a former member of the Advisory Council to the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health and is currently a member of the Sequencing and the HapMap Advisory Panels. Before retiring from full-time employment, he was Gardiner Professor of biochemistry at the University of Glasgow before holding senior research management positions at Glaxo (research director, Greenford and Geneva) and Merck & Co. (vice president of Basic Research, Immunology and Inflammation and Research Strategy Worldwide). In 1994, he initiated and directed the Merck Gene Index Project, and in 1998-99, he coordinated the creation of The SNP Consortium (TSC) formed by 10 major pharmaceutical companies and the Wellcome Trust.

Dr. Williamson is a Fulbright Scholar (1961), Fellow of the Institute of Biology, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and he holds the Colworth Medal of the Biochemical Society (1971), among other honors. He has held non- executive director positions with Argenta Discovery, Brax, Devgen, Onconova, Oxxon Therapeutics, Solexa and Viaken Systems. He has also served on the SABs of Apitope, Brax, Devgen, Cambridge Healthtech Institute Genome Series, Kudos Pharmaceuticals, Sense Therapeutics, Solexa and Therapeutic Human Polyclonals.

Charlie Lieu

Ms. Lieu has a strong background in both the scientific and business development areas. She honed her knowledge of technical strategy with Merck & Co. where she held the positions of technology analyst and corporate liaison for Merck Research Labs and managed technical marketing and sales for Rosetta Inpharmatics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck. She was involved in the acquisition transition at Rosetta, as well as the development and execution of Merck's emerging technology strategy. She also served on Merck's technology licensing and review board.

Ms. Lieu began her career as an integration engineer for the International Space Station Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center and then became a scientific programmer for the Sequencing Center of MIT's Whitehead (now the Broad) Institute. She earned her M.B.A. from the Sloan School of Management at MIT, an M.S. in electrical engineering with a focus on biomedical technology from MIT and received her B.S. in computer science from Texas A&M University.

About Genstruct

Founded in 2002, Genstruct is a knowledge-driven discovery company focused on pioneering new approaches to the understanding and treatment of complex diseases in the areas of oncology, metabolic disorders and inflammation. Genstruct has developed the Molecular Epistemics(TM) Platform for the discovery of biomarkers, disease pathways and compound mechanisms of action (MOA). This platform is comprised of a suite of patent-pending technologies that includes the Knowledge Assembly(TM) process, which enables continuous and rapid construction of addressable biological models, as well as the Epistemics Engine(TM) System for mining and refining the models for mechanism discovery and validation. Genstruct engages in internal discovery and external development partnerships that apply the Molecular Epistemics Platform to accelerate and increase the output of drug discovery and development programs. The privately held company is based in Cambridge, Mass., and its investors include Flagship Ventures and A. M. Pappas & Associates. For more information, please visit .

Genstruct and the Genstruct logo are registered trademarks and Molecular Epistemics, Knowledge Assembly, and Epistemics Engine are trademarks of Genstruct, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Contact

Karen Higgins
A & E Communications for Genstruct
(610) 831-5723
khiggins@aandecomm.com