Gamma Medica Creates Strategic Advisory Board Chaired by Veteran Health Technology Executive Robert Cascella
SALEM, N.H.--Gamma Medica, developer of advanced digital molecular imaging technologies for the detection of breast cancer, announced today that it has formed a strategic advisory board comprised of distinguished clinicians and thought leaders with expertise in women’s health technologies and diagnostic imaging. Robert Cascella, former chief executive officer of Hologic, will chair the strategic advisory board. The board will provide strategic and operational counsel as Gamma Medica continues the development and commercialization of its LumaGEM® Molecular Breast Imaging system.
“Gamma Medica is committed to providing more efficient and effective imaging across the entire breast cancer continuum, from detection to diagnostics and treatment assessment,” said Jim Calandra, president and chief executive officer of Gamma Medica. “We look forward to working with our team of medical experts and leading clinical radiologists to ensure our product offerings benefit patients, clinicians, and the healthcare system overall.”
Robert Cascella: Strategic Advisory Board Chairman
Robert Cascella has more than 30 years of senior management, operational and finance experience. From 2009 to 2013, he was president and chief executive officer of Hologic, a market leader in women’s health technology solutions with annual revenue of $2.5 billion; from 2003 to 2009, he served as president and chief operating officer. Mr. Cascella also has financial advising experience, having served as the healthcare partner and executive council member at CFG Capital, LLC, a boutique investment bank, from 1998 to 2003. Previously, he served in senior management roles at NeoVision Corporation, Fischer Imaging Corporation, and Perkin-Elmer Corporation.
R. James Brenner, M.D., J.D., FACR, FCLM
Dr. R. James Brenner is board certified in both diagnostic radiology and nuclear radiology and is director of breast imaging for Bay Imaging Consultants, Inc., which provides services throughout the East Bay of Northern California with a group of more than 80 radiologists. He is also clinical professor of radiology at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Brenner is past president of the Society of Breast Imaging, and over the past 30 years has published more than 150 scientific papers with seminal articles on breast biopsy and breast MRI, as well as 50 book chapters. He has given more than 1,400 invited lectures throughout the world. Dr. Brenner received an honorary lifetime membership in the United Kingdom's Royal College of Radiology Breast Division and a lifetime achievement award from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He is the single speaker at his own post-graduate breast-imaging course covering all aspects of the subject, which he conducts at least three times a year in different venues within the United States.
Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Sanjiv Sam Gambhir is internationally recognized for his pioneering work in molecular imaging, including positron emission tomography (PET). He is currently the chairman of the Stanford School of Medicine’s Department of Radiology, the director of the university’s Molecular Imaging Program, and also head of its Canary Center for Cancer Early Detection. He trained at UCLA in the medical scientist-training program and then trained in nuclear medicine. He was vice-chair of molecular pharmacology prior to moving to Stanford in 2003. His lab has developed fundamental new ways to image living subjects, including gene/cell therapies with PET, optical cancer imaging, photoacoustic cancer imaging, and multimodality strategies. Dr. Gambhir is currently working on 16 clinical trials, has over 40 patents pending or granted, is the founder of several startups, and is the author of more than 500 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academies.
Andrew Maidment, Ph.D., FAAPM
Dr. Andrew Maidment is a board-certified medical physicist and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, where he serves as chief of physics for radiology in the University Health System and as an associate professor of radiology. He is also co-director of the HHMI-NIBIB Interfaces Graduate Program in Biomedical Imaging and Information Sciences at the university, and recipient of the 2010 Special Dean's Award for School of Medicine Teaching. Dr. Maidment developed the world’s first practical digital mammography system in 1993, commercialized as the Fischer Senoscan. Dr. Maidment has published more than 160 research papers, and has multiple patents pending or granted.
Jeffrey Mendel, M.D.
Dr. Jeffrey Mendel is a radiologist with more than 30 years experience with breast imaging. Dr. Mendel is board certified in both nuclear medicine and diagnostic radiology. Dr. Mendel has published and lectured on breast imaging and teaches at Tufts Medical School. Dr. Mendel has consulted with multiple medical imaging companies on both software and hardware design for breast imaging. Dr. Mendel is the senior health and policy advisor for Radiology at Partners in Health (PIH), a multinational healthcare-focused NGO. Recently, Dr. Mendel supervised the creation of a digital radiology department in PIH’s new 330-bed teaching hospital in Haiti. He is an accomplished breast radiologist with significant experience performing MRI-guided breast biopsies.
Margo M. Moskos, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Margo Moskos is a senior staff breast radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Moskos received her medical education from Boston University School of Medicine, completed her residency at Boston Medical Center and her fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Moskos is board certified in diagnostic radiology by the American Board of Radiology.
Robin B. Shermis, M.D., M.P.H, F.A.C.R.
Dr. Robin Shermis is a senior managing partner in a 30-person radiology practice in Northwest Ohio (Toledo Radiological Associates, Inc.) that staffs three hospitals, a large breast care center and an outpatient imaging center. Since 1992, Dr. Shermis has served as medical director of breast imaging for ProMedica Breast Care, which manages all breast imaging and procedures in the Toledo Metro area for ProMedica. A longtime radiologist, Dr. Shermis was instrumental in bringing a variety of new screening technologies into the Northwest Ohio area, including breast MRI, digital mammography, tomosynthesis, and molecular breast imaging. He oversees the breast ultrasound division, percutaneous breast biopsies, and breast cryoablation. Dr. Shermis serves on the executive board for the Toledo Hospital Foundation and previously on the board for Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s Northwest Ohio chapter. He is very active as a breast imaging advocate in the Toledo, Ohio community and has given multiple local, regional, and national presentations.
“Gamma Medica’s LumaGEM MBI Solution is poised to revolutionize breast cancer screening and diagnostics. Through excellent detection and characterization of breast tissue, the company’s innovative use of molecular breast imaging serves as a more precise complement to mammography,” Cascella commented. “I look forward to utilizing my women’s imaging experience and expertise to collaborate with the new board and advise the company as it continues to develop and commercialize this important tool.”
About the LumaGEM® Molecular Breast Imaging system
The LumaGEM MBI system is an advanced secondary diagnostic tool intended for use when screening mammography is inconclusive or there are clinician concerns over multiple disease locations. The system is highly sensitive in its ability to detect lesions as small as 3 millimeters. As a functional imaging modality, LumaGEM MBI is also highly specific, resulting in fewer “false positives” and unnecessary biopsies as compared to anatomical imaging methods such as ultrasound and MRI. The LumaGEM MBI process is accommodating to patients and radiologists, with a straightforward imaging protocol and results that can be read easily.
About Gamma Medica, Inc.
Gamma Medica, Inc. is dedicated to the development of advanced digital imaging technologies that address the growing importance of overcoming the critical shortcomings of mammography and other screening modalities in the early detection of breast cancer. The company designs, builds and services the LumaGEM® MBI system, the first commercially available, FDA-cleared planar, dual head, fully solid-state digital imaging system utilizing cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) technology for molecular breast imaging. For more information, visit www.gammamedica.com.