MENLO PARK, Calif.–Pacific Biosciences, a private company developing third-generation DNA sequencing technology, today announced that leading genetic scientist Eric E. Schadt, Ph.D. has joined the company as Chief Scientific Officer.

Dr. Schadt joins Pacific Biosciences from Rosetta Inpharmatics, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. in Seattle, where he was Executive Scientific Director of Genetics. Dr. Schadt’s work at Rosetta involved the generation and integration of very large-scale sequence variation, molecular profiling and clinical data in disease populations to construct the molecular networks that define disease states and link molecular biology to physiology in ways that can impact clinical medicine.

Dr. Schadt has contributed to a number of discoveries relating to the genetic basis of common human diseases such as diabetes and obesity, which have been widely published in leading scientific journals such as Nature and Nature Genetics. His research has provided novel insights into what is needed to master diverse, large-scale data collected on normal and disease populations in order to elucidate the complexity of disease and make more informed decisions in the drug discovery arena.

As Chief Scientific Officer of Pacific Biosciences, Dr. Schadt will oversee the scientific strategy for the company, including creating the vision for next-generation applications of the company’s technology, contributing to the evolution of Pacific Biosciences’ transformative sequencing technology, and playing a key role in the company’s strategic relationships. Dr. Schadt will also continue to dedicate a portion his time to Sage Bionetworks – an open access genomics initiative he co-founded earlier this year with Stephen H. Friend M.D. Ph.D. that is designed to build and support databases and an accessible platform for creating innovative new dynamic disease models.

“Joining Pacific Biosciences provides an incredible opportunity for me to help lead the scientific direction for a technology that is redefining and driving the future of biology,” said Dr. Schadt. “The company’s transformative sequencing technology is expected to generate massive amounts of valuable data. I look forward to applying my expertise and interest in integrative genomics to help our customers effectively translate that data into high value knowledge for drug discovery and clinical research.”

Prior to joining Rosetta, Dr. Schadt was a Senior Research Scientist at Roche Bioscience. He received his B.A. in applied mathematics and computer science from California Polytechnic State University, his M.A. in pure mathematics from UCLA, and his Ph.D. in bio-mathematics from UCLA.

“Eric has an exceptional blend of scientific and informatics expertise, a passion for innovation, and the type of outside-the-box thinking that will help us continue to unlock the potential of our transformative technology and enable the next generation of healthcare,” said Hugh Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Biosciences. “In addition, we are enthusiastic about his continued involvement with Sage Bionetworks as it is strongly synergistic with the Pacific Biosciences mission. We look forward to exploring how our two organizations can work together to further the understanding of human health and disease.”

About Pacific Biosciences

Pacific Biosciences is a private company based in Menlo Park, California. The company was founded in 2004 with the goal of developing a transformative SMRT™ (single molecule real time) DNA sequencing platform that will become the new gold standard for genetic analysis. The SMRT™ technology is built upon two key innovations that overcome major challenges facing the field of DNA sequencing. The first is the SMRT™ chip, which enables observation of individual fluorophores against a dense background of labeled nucleotides by maintaining a high signal-to-noise ratio. The second are phospholinked nucleotides, which produce a completely natural DNA strand through fast, accurate, and processive DNA synthesis. The company has received an Advanced Sequencing Technology Award grant from the NHGRI (National Human Genome Research Institute) to develop the $1,000 genome. More information is available at www.pacificbiosciences.com.

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