Casma Therapeutics Announces Addition of Sharon Tooze, Ph.D. to Scientific Advisory Board

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Casma Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company harnessing the process of autophagy to design powerful new medicines, today announced the appointment of Sharon Tooze, Ph.D. to its scientific advisory board (SAB).

“We are thrilled to welcome Sharon to our SAB at this pivotal stage of Casma’s growth,” stated Leon Murphy, Ph.D., chief scientific officer. “Sharon is a highly respected leader in the fields of autophagy and cell biology. Her extensive experience in understanding how autophagy factors are regulated will be crucial in helping us advance our innovative pipeline, efficiently and effectively. We look forward to drawing on Sharon’s expertise and knowledge as we develop potentially breakthrough therapeutics by utilizing the power of the autophagy pathway.”

Dr. Tooze has over twenty years of deep experience in the field of molecular cell biology. Currently, she leads the Molecular Cell Biology of Autophagy laboratory at The Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research institute focused on advancing, promoting, and sharing the understanding of human health and disease. Dr. Tooze’s research is focused on expanding the knowledge of the core autophagy proteins and novel effectors as well as understanding the role of autophagy in human disease. Prior to her position at the Francis Crick Institute, she held senior group leader and group leader positions at the Cancer Research UK (formerly ICRF). Before that, Dr. Tooze was a group leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Dr. Tooze completed her post-doctoral fellowship and Ph.D. at the EMBL. She obtained her M.S. from Yale University and her B.A. in Physics from the College of the Holy Cross.

“I am delighted to join Casma’s SAB and am excited by the strong scientific potential of the Company’s platforms and pipeline focused on improving the lives of patients with rare genetic diseases and other indications. I am looking forward to working with the entire Casma team to help develop a new generation of drugs based on autophagy pathway, a novel and insightful approach based on an important area of cell biology.”

About Casma Therapeutics

Casma Therapeutics is harnessing autophagy by developing a novel degradation technology to open new target areas for drug discovery and development that will profoundly impact the lives of patients. Autophagy is a conserved cellular process that contributes to overall organismal health, but when autophagy is perturbed, inefficient autophagic flux contributes to numerous diseases. By selectively boosting autophagy and degradation of disease targets in the lysosome, Casma expects to be able to arrest or reverse the progression of several diseases such as neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders, inflammation and muscle degeneration. For more information, please visit www.casmatx.com

Contacts

Investors and Media
Courteney Backstrom
Casma Therapeutics, Inc.
cbackstrom@casmatx.com
857-777-4248