Stefansson resigned both positions in 1997 after founding deCODE and moving back to Reykjavik. While in Boston, he and his colleague Jeffrey Gulcher decided to return to Iceland to perform genetic studies to determine multiple sclerosis risk. In 1993 he was appointed professor of neurology, neuropathology and neuroscience at Harvard University and division chief of neuropathology at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. There he completed residencies in neurology and neuropathology, and in 1983 joined the faculty. Academic career įollowing his internship at the National Hospital of Iceland, he went to the University of Chicago to work under Barry Arnason (coincidentally a Canadian of Icelandic descent). His favorite author is Isaac Bashevis Singer. He initially thought of becoming a writer, and attests to being a voracious reader. Stefansson says that he owes much to his brother, who suffers from schizophrenia. In June 2012, his daughter, Sólveig "Sóla" Káradóttir, married Dhani Harrison, son of the late George Harrison and his wife, Olivia Harrison. He was married to Valgerður Ólafsdóttir from 1970 until her death on 11 November 2021. He completed his secondary education at Reykjavik Junior College and received his M.D. He was the second youngest of the five children of Sólveig Halldórsdóttir and Stefán Jónsson, a radio personality, writer and democratic socialist member of parliament. Kari Stefansson was born in 1949 in Reykjavik, Iceland. This population approach has served as a model for national genome projects around the world and contributed to the realization of several aspects of precision medicine. His work has focused on how genomic diversity is generated and on the discovery of sequence variants impacting susceptibility to common diseases. In Iceland he has pioneered the use of population-scale genetics to understand variation in the sequence of the human genome. It also adds to a run of acquisitions that has already seen Amgen strike deals this year worth a total of $2.2bn in the form of its purchases of Turkish pharma company Mustafa Nevzat, German biotech Micromet and US biopharma Kai Pharmaceuticals.Kári Stefánsson (or Kari Stefansson born 6 April 1949) is an Icelandic neurologist and founder and CEO of Reykjavik-based biopharmaceutical company deCODE genetics. The all-cash deal does not require regulatory approval, and is expected to close before the end of 2012. "We believe Amgen's focus and ability to incorporate our genetic research into their research and development efforts will translate our discoveries into meaningful therapies for patients."
#Decode genetics ceo full
Kari Stefansson, founder and CEO at deCODE Genetics, said: "One of the ways to truly realise the full value of human genetics, is to make our research synergistic with drug development efforts where target discovery, validation and prioritisation efforts can be accelerated. Most recently deCode's work saw it identify a gene variant that conferred a high risk for common, late-onset form of Alzheimer's disease.
Their input allowed deCode to continue its genome sequencing and genotyping research and last year the company struck a research deal with Pfizer to search for variants in the human genome that increase the risk of systemic lupus erythematosis. Struggling to find a successful business model the company filed for bankruptcy in the US in 2009 and was acquired by a consortium of venture capitalists. This fits perfectly with our objective to pursue rapid development of relevant molecules that reach the right disease targets while avoiding investments in programmes based on less well-validated targets."ĭeCode's early promise was that it would be able to establish an Iceland-wide genetic database, giving it access to an unrivaled population dataset, but this plan ultimately ran into difficulties with the country's authorities. "This capability will enhance our efforts to identify and validate human disease targets. Robert Bradway, Amgen's president and CEO, said: "deCODE Genetics has built a world-class capability in the study of the genetics of human disease. Amgen has acquired deCode Genetics, paying $415m for the Reykjavik-based genetic information firm in a deal it says will boost its ability to identify and validate disease targets.ĭeCode was founded in 1996 to capitalise on genomic research and it has since discovered genetic risk factors for dozens of diseases ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer.
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